New Zealand has submitted the documentary "A Flickering Truth" to represent at the Academy Awards.

Directed by Pietra Brettkelly, the documentary premiered at the 72nd annual Venice Film Festival in the Classics sidebar. The movie tells the story of the world of three dreamers, the dust of 100 years of war and the restoration of 8000 hours of film archive. The movie represents the first time Brettkelly represents the country and it represents the fourth time the country submits to the Academy Awards.

Like Australia, New Zealand's primary language is English and as a result the country's films are generally not eligible for the award. The Foreign Language Film only allow films not in English to compete. With such a small pool of submissions in New Zealand's history, the country has yet to get nominated. Last year it submitted the film "The Dead Lands." That film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was nominated for a number of New Zealand Film and TV awards.

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.

Related