The jury of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences made a preliminary selection of the 63 movies running for the "Best foreign film" category. Nine movies were selected, out of which only five will participate in the competition. Romanian multi-awarded 4 Months, 3 weeks and 2 days was not included.
Movie director Cristian Mungiu expressed his doubt on the fact that his film may receive a nomination ever since last year's Golden Lion awards, considered as the European Oscars. According to Mungiu, the American public is used to another kind of movies and, for the moment, he is fully satisfied with the European honors he received.
The nine movies passing the first selection are:
The Counterfeiters, by Austrian Stefdan Ruzowizky
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, by the Brasilian Cao Hamburger
Days of Darkness, by Canadian Denys Arcand
Beaufort, by Israeli Joseph Cedar
The Unknown Woman, by Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy)
Kazakhstan - Sergei Bodrov (Mongolia)
Katyn, by Andrzej Wajda (Poland)
Russia on a 12 mm film roll, the last film by Nikita Mikhalkov
The Trap by Srdan Golubovic (Serbia)
