Academy unveils 2019 Oscar shortlists for Foreign Language Film

Tehran, Dec 19, IRNA - From a field of 87 submissions to the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar category, nine movies have now advanced to the shortlist. Working with one of the strongest years in recent memory, the Phase I Committee and the Executive Committee have settled on such favorites as Alfonso Cuaron's 'Roma', Pawel Pawlikowski's 'Cold War' and Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'Shoplifters'. Among the films left off the list is Golden Globe nominee and Cannes Camera d'Or winner 'Girl' by Belgium's Lukas Dhont. A surprise inclusion is Kazakhstan's 'Ayka', the Cannes Best Actress-winning drama from Sergei Dvortsevoy. And, in Lee Chang-dong's 'Burning', South Korea finally makes the shortlist. Iranian feature movie 'No Date, No Signature', directed by Vahid Jalilvand and 'Border' by Ali Abassi did not make the cut in the Foreign Language Film category of 2019 Oscars. Abbasi's 'Border' is notable for its absence. The story of a customs officer with an uncanny knack for sniffing out guilt was the top Un Certain Regard prize winner in Cannes and is a trippy, quasi-political treatise on 'the other'. Among the films that did make the cut, there is no surprise with Cuaron's 'Roma', the Oscar-winning helmer's personal reflection on his own childhood in Mexico and the women who surrounded him. The Netflix drama is a contender in several major categories and took the Golden Lion in Venice. Out of Cannes, Kore-eda's Palme d'Or winner and family drama 'Shoplifters' (Magnolia) was also expected today, as was Nadine Labaki's social drama and Jury Prize laureate 'Capernaum'. Pawlikowski's 'Cold War' (Amazon), which was left off the Golden Globes nominations list, won the Best Director prize in Cannes and figures on Oscars' shortlist after a near sweep at the European Film Awards this past weekend. 'Burning' (Well Go), from South Korea's Lee, took a FIPRESCI in Cannes and was recently named runner-up to 'Roma' in the LA Film Critics Association's Best Picture category. Its inclusion on the shortlist is a first for South Korea which has never gotten this far, much less won or been nominated for the FL Oscar despite the country's vibrant local industry. Likewise a debut in Cannes, Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra's 'Birds of Passage' (The Orchard) puts Colombia on the shortlist for only the second time ever. Guerra's eventual nominee, 'Embrace of the Serpent', was the first to make the cut three years ago. 'The Lives of Others' Oscar winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is back in contention now with Never Look Away, his big canvas work that's inspired by the life of artist Gerhard Richter and premiered to much acclaim in Venice. Reaching back further in the year, Gustav Moller's taut feature debut 'The Guilty' (Magnolia) was a breakout at Sundance in early 2018, scooping the Audience Award in the World Cinema section. The Phase I Foreign Language voting group decides on six titles for the shortlist while the Executive Committee selects three further films. Source: Iran Daily 9060** Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish