MNA – Iran’s Foreign Language Academy Award entry for 2018, Narges Abyar’s Iran-Iraq war drama ‘Breath’, did not make the Academy’s shortlist that was announced on Thursday.


The Academy on Thursday announced the nine films that will compete for a nomination for the best foreign-language film Oscar. Iran’s entry, Narges Abyar’s Iran-Iraq war drama ‘Breath’, was not among the selected films, neither was Angelina Jolie’s 'First They Killed My Father', which was submitted by Cambodia and also has earned a Golden Globe nomination.

The shortlist of films was chosen from a record 92 titles. The selected films will now screen for committees in New York, Los Angeles and London, and the final verdict will be announced Jan. 23.

The films on the shortlist, and their country of origin, are:

Chile, ‘A Fantastic Woman’ by Sebastián Lelio
Germany, ‘In the Fade’ by Fatih Akin
Hungary, ‘On Body and Soul’ by Ildikó Enyedi
Israeli regime, ‘Foxtrot’ by Samuel Maoz
Lebanon, ‘The Insult’ by Ziad Doueiri
Russia, ‘Loveless’ by Andrey Zvyagintsev
Senegal, ‘Félicité’ by Alain Gomis
South Africa, ‘The Wound’ by John Trengove
Sweden, ‘The Square’ by Ruben Östlund

The 90th Oscars will be held on March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.

The previous edition of the event picked Iranian acclaimed director Asghar Farhadi’s ‘The Salesman’ as the winner of the best foreign-language film Oscar. Farhadi won Iran’s first Oscar for his ‘A Separation’ in 2012.