Andrei Konchalovsky's 'Paradise" has been selected to represent Russia at the Academy Awards.

"Paradise" won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival where it also competed for the Golden Lion. The film tells the story of Olga, a Russian noblewoman who is arrested in occupied France for helping to shelter Jewish children.

The film marks the second time the director represents Russia. In 2002, his film "House of Fools," which won the Grand Special Jury Prize at Venice, was selected to represent but was not nominated. However, the director could have represented more times because two years ago Konchalovsky requested that his movie "The Postman's White Nights" be withdrawn from consideration for the Oscar race. His reasoning was he did not want to compete for a Hollywood award.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has submitted films on a consistent basis and has been nominated five times. The last time the country was nominated was in 2014 for the film "Leviathan." The country also won once in 1994 for the film "Burnt by the Sun" by Nikita Mikhalkov, Konchalovsky's brother.

Last year Russia submitted the film "Sunstroke" but it never obtained the worldwide exposure necessary for the Oscar nomination.

Every year a number of countries submit films to compete in the Foreign Language Film category. This year is shaping up to be a very competitive year with Denmark submitting "Land of Mine," Germany submitting the festival favorite "Toni Erdmann" and Spain submitting Pedro Almodovar's 20th film "Julieta." Other film that will likely be huge contenders include "House of Others," "Sieranevada," "The Ardennes," "Chevalier," "Mother., ""El Clasico," "From Afar" and "Neruda."

Last year the category went to Hungary for the harrowing Holocaust thriller "Son of Saul." The film made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival before going onto make an impact in the festival circuit.

The Foreign Language Film deadline to submit is Oct. 3. 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.

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