The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed the 9 films advancing in this year's 90th Oscar race for best foreign language film with South Africa’s The Wound from director John Trengove making the shortlist.
The Oscar committee will whittle down the list to a top 5 and those final films in the category will be announced alongside all of the other Oscar nominations on Tuesday, 23 January 2018.
The Wound has been a controversial film in South Africa that some traditional leaders want banned, and that follows a closeted gay relationship between two men in the context of the Xhosa initiation ritual.
The 9 finalists for nominations in 2017 as per the Academy’s press statement are:
Chile, “A Fantastic Woman”, Sebastián Lelio, director
Germany, “In the Fade”, Fatih Akin, director
Hungary, “On Body and Soul”, Ildikó Enyedi, director
Israel, “Foxtrot”, Samuel Maoz, director
Lebanon, “The Insult”, Ziad Doueiri, director
Russia, “Loveless”, Andrey Zvyagintsev, director
Senegal, “Félicité”, Alain Gomis, director
South Africa, “The Wound”, John Trengove, director
Sweden, “The Square”, Ruben Östlund, director
The 90th Oscars will take place on Sunday 4 March 2018 at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood.
On Wednesday, The Wound was named the year’s Best Foreign Film by the African American Film Critics Association.
The AAFC, the world’s largest group of professional black film critics, will present the award at the 9th annual AAFCA Awards ceremony on 7 February in Hollywood.
