Oscar 2017 Predictions: Karlovy Vary Selection 'Kills on Wheels' will represent Hungary at the Oscars
Hungary has submitted "Kills on Wheels" as its Official Selection for the Academy Awards. The movie, directed by Attila Till, premiered in July at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival where it scored rave reviews. The film is now scheduled to premiere at the London Film Festival later this year.
"Kills on Wheels" comes a year after Hungary won its second Oscar. Last year "Son of Saul" was submitted by the country after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival where it became the front runner. It later went on to win every single foreign language film award including the Oscar.
"Kills on Wheels" will likely struggle to get nominated as it is rare for a country to be nominated two years in a row. However, the film has obtained rave reviews and may surprise if the Academy loves it.
Hungary began submitting in 1965 and has been nominated nine times including two wins. Its first win came in 1981 for Istvan Szabo's film "Mephisto." Four of Hungary's nominations have also come from films by Szabo.
"Kills on Wheels" will compete with a number of festival hits for the Foreign Language category. Among the films already selected this year include Venezuela's Golden Lion winner "From Afar," Bosnia and Herzegovina's Silver Bear winner "Death in Sarajevo" and Germany's critical darling "Toni Erdmann". Other films that have been submitted include Switzerland's "My Life as a Courgette" and Romania's Cannes Competition film "Sieranevada."
The deadline for the foreign language category is Oct. 3 with the Academy announcing a list of eligible films later that month. On Jan. 17 the Academy will announce the nine finalists from among the eligible films and on Jan. 24 nominations will be announced. The winner will be announced at the Oscar ceremony on Feb. 26, 2017.