Nine foreign language films advance in Oscar race

Jan 13, 2009 by Ian Evans

Nine films will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 81st Academy Awards®. Sixty-five films had originally qualified in the category.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

• Austria, Revanche, Gotz Spielmann, director;
• Canada, The Necessities of Life, Benoit Pilon, director;
• France, The Class, Laurent Cantet, director;
• Germany, The Baader Meinhof Complex, Uli Edel, director;
• Israel, Waltz with Bashir, Ari Folman, director;
• Japan, Departures, Yojiro Takita, director;
• Mexico, Tear This Heart Out, Roberto Sneider, director;
• Sweden, Everlasting Moments, Jan Troell, director;
• Turkey, 3 Monkeys, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director.

The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five 2008 nominees by specially selected committees in New York and Los Angeles. The committee members will spend this Friday, Saturday and Sunday viewing three of the films each day.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®. Stick with DigitalHit.com for all your 2009 Academy Awards coverage.