Ari Folman's film, a moving animated memoir of the director's experiences as a young Israeli soldier during his country's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, is the likely favorite and won the corresponding award at Sunday's Golden Globes.

However there was a surprise omission from the list of films which will advance to the next round of Oscars voting, with gritty Italian mafia drama 'Gomorrah' failing to make the cut.

The film had already won the Grand Jury Prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival and was expected to be a strong contender at the Oscars, which take place in Hollywood on February 22.

The nine foreign films will be whittled down to a final five and revealed on January 22 when Oscars organizers announce this year's nominees.

Other films in the running include Germany's 'The Baader Meinhof Complex,' France's 'The Class,' and Japanese director Yojiro Takita's 'Departures.' Jan Troell's 'Everlasting Moments' will represent Sweden while from Mexico, Roberto Sneider's 'Tear This Heart Out' is in the running.

The other entries are Austria's 'Revanche,' Canada's 'The Necessities of Life' and Turkey's '3 Monkeys'. -- AFP