Who?s the best?: (From top) Moments from Paradise Now, Sophie Scholl and Tsotsi

The love tale of a ghost from India has lost out to hard-hitting sagas of political and social conflict from Europe, Africa and West Asia. Elbowing out Paheli, the five films to have bagged a Best Foreign Film nomination at the 78th Academy Awards are Don?t Tell (Italy), Joyeux No?l (France), Paradise Now (Palestine), Sophie Scholl ? The Final Days (Germany) and Tsotsi (South Africa).

On January 23, Metro had picked seven foreign films in the running of which three ? Tsotsi, Sophie Scholl and Paradise Now ? have made it to the top five. Here, we take you through each of the nominated films.

Tsotsi is a story of triumph over adverse conditions that include the AIDS epidemic and post-apartheid violence; Sophie Scholl tells the story of a young woman, her brother and other members of the White Rose resistance student movement in Nazi Germany; Paradise Now is a dramatic take on the Israel-Palestine conflict, focussing on two suicide bombers preparing to die.

Cristina Comencini?s Don?t Tell is the first Oscar nomination from Italy since Roberto Benigni?s Life is Beautiful in 1999. The film revolves around the trauma of a woman who is suddenly forced to confront a bitter episode from her childhood.

Joyeux No?l (Merry Christmas) by Christian Carion is based on a true story that occurred on Christmas Eve in 1914. Amidst the horror of the World War I, Scottish, French and German soldiers laid down their arms, shook hands with their enemies and exchanged gifts in a rare gesture of humanity.