LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Six European, two Latin American and one African film have made the shortlist for the foreign language Oscar, announced in Los Angeles last Friday.

Films by directors from Argentina, Estonia, Georgia, Mauritania, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Venezuela made the shortlist, which will be narrowed down to five nominees next month ahead of the February show.

The five nominees will be announced on January 15, along with nominations in all other categories for the Academy Awards, which will held on February 22.

The shortlisted films are:

Argentina, Wild Tales, by Damian Szifron

Estonia, Tangerines, by Zaza Urushadze

Georgia, Corn Island, by George Ovashvili

Mauritania, Timbuktu, by Abderrahmane Sissako

Netherlands, Accused, by Paula van der Oest

Poland, Ida, by Pawel Pawlikowski

Russia, Leviathan, by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Sweden, Force Majeure, by Ruben Östlund

Venezuela, The Liberator, by Alberto Arvelo

The foreign language Oscar has a long history of choosing European films as winners, with three quarters of the winners from the last 20 years coming from the old continent.