Israel has selected Elite Zexer's "Sand Storm" to represent the country at the Academy Awards.

The film tells the story of two Bedouin women who struggle to change the unchangeable rules, each in her own individual way. The film first started to get recognition when it won the First Look Work-In-Progress Competition in Locarno. Earlier this year it made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic section. It later played at the Berlin and Toronto Film Festival and won six Ophir Awards, awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television.

"Sand Storm" was picked up for distribution by Kino Lorber and is slated for release this Wednesday at New York's Film Forum.

"Sand Storm's" popularity and critical acclaim could give Israel its 11th nomination. The country was last nominated in 2012 for the film "Footnote." However, it has never won the Oscar and "Sand Storm" could possibly be its first win.

Last year the country submitted "Baba Joon." The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival but never gained enough buzz.

"Sand Storm" has a great chance of getting nominated but first it must get through a number of strong contenders including Italy's "Fire at Sea," Denmark's "Land of Mine," Germany's "Toni Erdmann" and Spain's "Julieta." Other European films that will compete for the Oscar include Georgia's "House of Others," Romania's "Sieranevada," Belgium's "The Ardennes," Greece's "Chevalier," Estonia's "Mother., and Bosnia's "Death in Sarajevo."

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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