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MOVIES

Almodóvar’s ‘Julieta’ selected to represent Spain at the Oscars

Mother-daughter drama beats out two other Spanish contenders, but still has to compete with other countries for a spot at the 89th Academy Awards

Gregorio Belinchón
Inma Cuesta and Adriana Ugarte, in a scene from 'Julieta'.
Inma Cuesta and Adriana Ugarte, in a scene from 'Julieta'.

Pedro Almodóvar’s Julieta has been selected as the Spanish nominee to represent the country at the 89th Academy Awards in Hollywood.

After countries finish submitting their entries, a committee will select five to compete for an Oscar statuette

The Spanish filmmaker’s drama about an estranged mother and daughter beat out two other finalists hoping to compete in the category of Best Foreign Language Film.

The Spanish Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences tapped Julieta over Iciar Bollaín’s El olivo and Paula Ortiz’s La novia, which were also in the running.

Almodóvar is already familiar with the Oscar ceremony, having won two statuettes: one in 1999 for All About My Mother and another one in 2003 for Talk to Her. This is also the sixth time that one of his movies has been tapped to represent Spain in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Julieta, which premiered in Spain in April, has performed well at the box office in France, Italy and Britain, though not quite as well back home. Its US release is being helped by a retrospective of his work due to open at New York’s MoMa on November 29.

But the Spanish movie is facing numerous rivals, including Germany’s Toni Erdmann, by Maren Ade, which international reviews describe as the best movie of the year.

After countries finish submitting their entries on October 3, a US committee will watch them all and select five to compete for an Oscar statuette, which will be handed out at a ceremony scheduled for February 26, 2017. The five finalists will be announced on January 24.

The last time a Spanish movie won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film was 2005, when Alejandro Amenábar scored a success with The Sea Inside.

English version by Susana Urra.

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