Did you know?
When the Academy Awards ceremony was first held in 1929 there was no separate category for foreign language films. The Best Foreign Language Film category was first awarded in 1947. (Coming up in 2020 the category will change to Best International Feature Film.)
Our foreign films have their own space in our collection and we have both fiction and nonfiction foreign films available. In fact, there are over 300 foreign films in our library!!!!
With so many great films it’s hard to choose what to watch. Below are some of our favorites to get you started but our collection is so much more. Check it out today!
 | The Chorus (French) When he takes a job teaching music at a school for troubled boys, Clement Mathieu is unprepared for its harsh discipline and depressing atmosphere. But with passion and unconventional teaching methods, he’s able to spark his students’ interest in music and bring them a newfound joy! |
 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish) A journalist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing — or dead — for forty years by a young female hacker. You may have watched the American version of Stieg Larsson’s novel but the original Swedish is our favorite. |
 | The Invisibles (German) While Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels infamously declared Berlin “free of Jews” in 1943, 1,700 Jewish Berliners managed to survive in the Nazi capital. This gripping docudrama traces the true stories of four young people who learned to hide in plain sight. |
 | Kuch Naa Kaho (Hindi) Raj visits India to attend a family wedding and becomes smitten with Namrata, his Uncle’s colleague who happily agrees to help Raj find a suitable Indian bride. However, fate has other ideas for the pair as they soon realize that “their love” is a match made in heaven. |
 | A Man Called Ove (Swedish) Based on Fredrik Backman’s international best-selling novel (which we also highly recommend), Ove is the quintessential grumpy old man next door. Grieving his late wife, Ove has largely given up on life until a boisterous young family moves in next door and forces him out of his shell. |
 | Potiche (French) Suzanne Pujol, a housebound “trophy housewife” steps in to manage the umbrella factory run by her tyrannical husband after the workers go on strike. To everyone’s surprise, Suzanne proves herself a competent and assertive woman of action. |
 | Priceless (French) On the French Riviera, nothing comes cheap. And when it comes to men, Irene has very rich taste. One very confusing night, she is duped at her own game. Her knight in shining armor turns out to be a bartender. Irene, however, is the woman of Jean’s dreams. The only way to win her heart back is to turn the tables on her. |
 | The Scent of Green Papaya (Vietnamese) An Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, Tran Anh Hung’s “luxuriant, visually seductive debut” (New York Times) recreates antebellum Vietnam (1951) through both the wide eyes of childhood and the deep blush of first love. |
 | Spettacolo (Italian) Once upon a time, villagers in a tiny hill town in Tuscany came up with a remarkable way to confront their issues – they turned their lives into a play. Every summer their piazza becomes their stage and villagers from 6 to 90 play a part – the role of themselves. But this year’s performance might just be its last. |
 | Tsotsi (Zulu/Afrikaans) On the edges of Johannesburg, Tsotsi’s life has no meaning beyond survival. One night, in desperation, Tsotsi steals a woman’s car. But as he is driving off, he makes a shocking discovery in the backseat. In one moment his life takes an unexpected turn. |