LOS ANGELES – A Polish movie about a Catholic nun who learns she is the daughter of Jews killed during the Holocaust made the Oscar Award shortlist for best foreign-language film.
“Ida” was among nine films that made the shortlist on Friday. “Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem,” the Israeli entry that depicts the five-year legal struggle of an Orthodox wife to obtain a religious divorce, did not make the cut.
Among other contenders for the foreign-language Oscar are Russia’s “Leviathan,” in which a simple worker battles a corrupt city hall, and Sweden’s “Force Majeure,” depicting a family facing down an avalanche while on a ski vacation.
While such traditional cinematic powerhouses as France, Italy and Germany failed to qualify, outsiders Mauritania (“Timbuktu), Estonia (“Tangerines”) and Georgia (“Corn Island”) made the shortlist.
Rounding out the list of nine are Argentina (“Wild Tales”), Holland (“Accused”) and Venezuela (“The Liberator”).
The slate of nine nominees will be winnowed down to five finalists when the 87th Academy Award nominations are announced on Jan. 15. The Oscars will be held Feb. 22 in Hollywood.
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