Movies from 49 countries are in competition for the foreign-language prize at February's Academy Awards

Movies from 49 countries are in competition for the foreign-language prize at February's Academy Awards, among them the film festival hits House of Flying Daggers, Nobody Knows and Kontroll. The number of entries was down from last year, when a record 56 countries submitted films for Oscar consideration. Each country is allowed to submit one film. China's entry, House of Flying Daggers, is a martial-arts historical epic from director Zhang Yimou, whose previous martial-arts tale Hero was nominated for the foreign-language award for 2002 and became a hit in U.S. theatres when it was released last August. House of Flying Daggers, which debuted to a warm reception at May's Cannes Film Festival, features Hero co-star Zhang Ziyi as a ninth-century rebel in a romantic triangle with two men whose love for her leads to tragedy. Japan's offering, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Nobody Knows, earned the best actor honour at Cannes for child star Yagira Yuuya, playing a boy who must take charge of his three younger siblings after their mother leaves. Nimrod Antal's Kontroll, Hungary's entry, was well-received at Cannes and September's Toronto International Film Festival and won top honours at this month's Chicago Film Festival. The comic thriller follows a motley group of Budapest subway ticket takers on the job as a killer stalks the tunnels, shoving passengers in front of speeding trains. Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 25 and awards will be presented Feb. 27.