"Since Oscar submissions for foreign-language films may only be made by the country in which they are made -- and only one film per country -- several of the top foreign language movies of 2004 have already been eliminated. They include Maria Full of Grace, A Very Long Engagement, The Motorcycle Diaries, and Bad Education, the Los Angeles Times observed today (Thursday). Also eliminated: Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, in which Aramaic was the principal spoken language. "This system doesn't work," producer and academy member Samuel Goldwyn Jr. told the Times. "The academy's job is to pick the best foreign-language picture of the year. But what happens when two of the best pictures of the year are both made in France? Or suppose you had Italy's The Bicycle Thief and La Dolce Vita in the same year. It would be criminal if you could only pick one."

http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/#2

Bad Education is the one that is hit by that the most. If it wasn't for that "only one per country"-rule, it would DEFINITELY be nominated along with The Sea Inside.