Oscar 2017 Predictions: Can Argentina Win its Third Oscar with 'The Distinguished Citizen?'
Argentina has selected "The Distinguished Citizen" to represent the country at the Oscars.
The movie, directed by Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn, made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival where Oscar Martinez won the Volpi cup for Best Actor. It also played at the Busan International Film Festival and the Latin Beat Film Festival.
The film comes a year after Argentina submitted the Venice Film Festival winner "The Clan." That film went on to be released by Fox earlier this year but was ultimately not nominated.
Argentina has won two Academy Awards for the films "The Official Story" in 1985 and "The Secret in Their Eyes" in 2010. The country has also been nominated for five additional films. The last nomination came in 2014 for "Wild Tales." Directed by Damian Szifron, the movie became one of the biggest festival hits after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and was also a huge box office hit in Argentina.
"The Distinguished Citizen" is one of the strongest selections from Latin America but it must first compete with other high profile films such as "Neruda," "Elle," "From Afar," "Land of Mine," "Toni Erdmann" and "Julieta. Other films that will be tough competitors include Italy's "Fire at Sea," 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.