Oscars 2018: Palme d'Or winner The Square among foreign film hopefuls

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Elisabeth Moss and Claes Bang star in The SquareImage source, Curzon Artificial Eye
Image caption,
Elisabeth Moss and Claes Bang star in The Square, alongside others including Dominic West and Terry Notary

The Square, the art world satire that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, is one of nine titles in contention for 2018's best foreign language film Oscar.

Directed by Ruben Ostlund, the Swedish film is one of nine to be put forward for the next stage of the contest.

The news follows the film's success at last weekend's European Film Awards in Berlin, where it won six prizes.

Others to progress include Hungary's entrant On Body and Soul, which won the European actress award at that event.

Image source, EPA
Image caption,
Director Ruben Ostlund with three of his film's six European Film Awards

Films from Chile, Germany and Israel are also among the nine-strong longlist, as are titles from Lebanon, Russia and South Africa.

They include German entrant In the Fade, which won Diane Kruger a best actress award at Cannes, and Russian film Loveless, which received the festival's jury prize.

It's good news for Senegal too, whose first submission for the award - Felicite, about a mother battling to survive in the Congolese capital Kinshasa - remains in the Oscar race for now.

But there is no place for Michael Haneke's Happy End or Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father, put forward for the prize by Austria and Cambodia respectively.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Cambodian child actress Sareum Srey Moch (left) played the lead role in Jolie's film

A record number of 92 countries submitted a film for the 2018 prize, among them the United Kingdom.

Iranian title The Salesman was named best foreign language film at this year's Oscars in February.

Foreign language film longlist

A Fantastic Woman - Chile

Felicite - Senegal

Foxtrot - Israel

In the Fade - Germany

The Insult - Lebanon

Loveless - Russia

On Body and Soul - Hungary

The Square - Sweden

The Wound - South Africa

The nine films will be whittled down to five when the Academy Award nominations are announced on 23 January.

The 90th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on 4 March.

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