The original list is very long, as each country that takes part in the awards chooses and nominates one film - and that's over 70 countries in total. For the 2013 awards, the committee that chooses the best foreign film had 71 films to choose from, the largest number ever.
From this pool, the committee reduced the shortlist to nine, including Amour by Michael Haneke from Austria and Sister by the Swiss director Ursula Meier. You can see the full shortlist here.
In January 2013 the list was reduced to five. The nominations were Amour, War Witch, No, A Royal Affair and Kon-Tiki. Finally, at the Academy Awards ceremony, Amour was declared the winner.
Amour is the story of an elderly couple, one of whom becomes ill and gradually loses both physical and mental ability. It also won the Cannes Palme d'Or in 2012, as well as several other European awards.