Canada is no longer in the running for best international feature at the upcoming Oscars.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the list of films that will advance to the next round of voting in the category and Canada’s entry is not among them.
Montreal writer-director Sophie Deraspe’s film “Antigone” had been submitted in the category for the 2020 Oscars.
The refugee drama stars Nahema Ricci as a teenager who helps her brother escape from prison to prevent him from being deported.
Among the 10 titles that made the cut for best international feature are Spain’s “Pain and Glory” starring Antonio Banderas; class warfare drama “Parasite” from South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho; and France’s “Les Misérables,” which won the Cannes Jury Prize and is set in modern-day Paris.
The final list of Oscar nominees will be revealed on Jan. 13.
Two NFB films made the short list in the best animated short category — ”The Physics of Sorrow” and “Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days.”
And “Brotherhood” by Montreal-based Tunisian filmmaker Meryam Joobeur is in the running for live action short.
Meanwhile, the Qatar/USA/Canada co-production “St. Louis Superman” made the short list in the documentary short subject category for its look at a Ferguson activist and battle rapper who was elected to the overwhelmingly white and Republican Missouri House of Representatives.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2019.