Milos Radovic's "Train Driver's Diary" has been selected to represent Serbia at the Academy Awards. The film premiered at the Moscow International Film Festival where it scored the Audience Award and later went on to play at the Montreal, Sarajevo and Raindance Film Festivals.

The movie tells the story of the innocent mass murderers and the lives of railroad engineers. Currently the film has not obtained U.S distribution but its Academy Awards campaign should bring the film buzz.

Since 1994 Serbia has submitted 23 films but has never been nominated. The closest the country came was in 2007 when "The Trap" made the January shortlist. That film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival where it recieved rave reviews.

Last year the country submitted "Enclave." The film won the audience award at the Moscow International Film Festival and also played at the Haifa and Cleveland Film Festivals.

"Train Driver's Diary" is considered a long shot but if the subject matter resonates with the Academy than there is a big possibility the film could land the country its first nomination. However, it must first compete against such popular titles as Chile's "Neruda," Germany's "Toni Erdman," Spain's "Julietta," Venezuela's "From Afar," and Finland's 'The Happiest Day in the Life of the Olli Maki'

In recent years the Academy has awarded "Son of Saul," "Ida," "The Great Beauty," and "A Separation" the best foreign language film of the year.

The deadline to submit for the foreign language category 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, 2017.

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