Recommended Foreign Language Films and TV Series

Nadia de Santiago, Ana Fernández, Maggie Civantos,

I’ve reviewed a number of foreign language films and TV shows here on Old Ain’t Dead. This is a summary post helping you find them all. I’ve categorized them by language. Some of these may have gone from the various streaming services, check the date of the review if it isn’t where I say it is. Last updated 8/23/2019.

I’ve stopped updating this page, because not many people use it. You can find all the foreign TV series I’ve review using the foreign TV series tag search or the foreign films tag search. If you’re specifically looking for Spanish language content, I have a special category just for Spanish.

Spanish

Arcelia Ramírez in Juana Ines

My friend Ingrid at Second-Half Travels has a list of 20 Spanish-Language TV Shows on Netflix in March 2018, if you need more Spanish suggestions.

Portuguese

My language-learning friend at Second Half Travels has a great list of the 13 Best Brazilian Movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

French

Cécile De France and Izïa Higelin in Summertime (La belle saison)

Italian

German

Andreas Pietschmann in Dark
  • Phoenix is a World War II story about a woman who returns from a concentration camp. There’s a gaslighting aspect to the tale.
  • Dark is a German mystery series with a bit of supernatural, time-travel magic thrown into the excitement.
  • Babylon Berlin puts you into Berlin in 1929 with brilliant, atmospheric settings and scenes.
  • Charité is the first season of a story about real doctors at a Berlin hospital.
  • In Charite at War, doctors and nurses struggle to save lives under the Nazis as the story of this Berlin hospital continues.

Russian

Detective Anna features an eager young woman who solves crimes better than the police.

Also check out the list of Best Russian TV Shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime from Second Half Travels.

Dutch

Hungarian

On Body and Soul is a love story that takes place in a slaughterhouse. Sounds grim, but it’s beautiful.

Georgian

Ia Shugliashvili in My Happy Family

My Happy Family is about one woman’s desire for a room of her own when her family is too much with her.

Polish

  • The Innocents is in Polish, French and Russian. It’s about a group of nuns who were raped in WWII and are ready to give birth. A French doctor helps them.
  • Ultraviolet is a mystery series about a group of internet savvy folks who start solving cases for the police.
  • The Art of Loving: Story of Michalina Wislocka tells the story of Polish sexologist Michalina Wislocka.
  • Cold War is the story of two lovers who begin and end in Poland, with many stops and separations along the way.

Icelandic

Swedish

Ida Engvoll in Rebecka Martinsson

Norwegian

Thelma is the story of a young woman with supernatural powers.

Finnish

Pihla Viitala in Deadwind (Karppi)

Danish

  • Dicte is a series about a female reporter who gets involved with investigating crimes.
  • Rita is a teacher and a rebel of the highest order. One of the all-time best series ever, in any language.
  • The Rain carries a virus that can kill you. Don’t get caught in the rain!

Welsh

Richard Harrington and Mali Harries in Hinterland
  • Hinterland is a Welsh/English TV series about a cop living in a remote part of Wales. The version we see in the U.S. is all in English, but a Welsh version is available. It was filmed twice, once in each language.
  • Keeping Faith also has a Welsh and an English version. This series follows the mysterious disappearance of a woman’s husband.

Arabic

  • Sand Storm is about a Bedouin family in Southern Israel.
  • Fatima is about a Moroccan woman struggling to make a life for herself in France. It is in both Arabic and French.

Syrian

The White Helmets is a documentary about rescue workers in areas of Syrian bombing.

Marathi

Usha Naik in 1000 Rupee Note

1000 Rupee Note is set in India. It is about a woman who receives a rupee note so large she can’t spend it anywhere because no one can make change.

Hindi

  • Parched is about a group of Indian women who want to free themselves from the rules of the patriarchy. There’s a mix of Hindi and English.
  • Margarita, with a Straw is about an Indian girl who goes to New York to college. It is a mix of Hindi and English.
  • Soni is a young woman police officer working in Delhi.
  • Period. End of Sentence. is winner of the Oscar for short documentary.

Urdu

Samiya Mumtaz in Dukhtar

Dukhtar is set in Pakistan. Both Urdu and Pushto are spoken in this film about a woman who fights to save her young daughter from a forced marriage.

Tibetan

The story of one Tibetan refugee in India is The Sweet Requiem.

Korean

Min-hee Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Jin-woong Jo, and Tae-ri Kim in The Handmaiden

The Handmaiden is a Korean remake of Fingersmith. It’s mostly in Korean with some Japanese as well.

Japanese

  • Sweet Bean is about an older woman who teaches life lessons and the trick of making bean paste. Delightfully lovely film.
  • A Whale of a Tale is a documentary about a Japanese fishing village.

Amharic

Difret tells the story of a 14 year old Ethiopian girl and the young female lawyer who represents her in her struggle to be free. Based on a real court case and very inspirational.

Igbo

Genevieve Nnaji in Lionheart

From Nigeria, Lionheart is partly in Igbo and partly in English. It’s about a woman who runs a family transportation business.

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