Skoonheid misses out on Oscar nod

Los Angeles - Award-winning Iranian film A Separation was among nine movies on the shortlist for the Oscars' best foreign language film nominations announced on Wednesday.

A Separation, which tells the story of a couple struggling with the decision of whether to leave their country, has won a slew of awards for the year's best foreign language film, including the Golden Globe, the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics.

Films from Germany, Denmark, Canada and Morocco also made the shortlist determined by two committees of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which hands out the Oscars, the film world's top honours, in February. 

Skoonheid

Skoonheid, South Africa's entry to the foreign film category, did not make the cut. Directed by Oliver Hermanus, the youngest director in the field of 63 countries accepted to participate in the 84th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Skoonheid tells of a middle-aged man (played by Deon Lotz) who develops a dangerous obsession with a family friend's student son.

South Africa previously won the foreign film Oscar in 2005 for Gavin Hood's Tsotsi.

The Oscar shortlist, which also included films from Taiwan, Poland, Israel and Belgium, will be winnowed down by special committees in New York and Los Angeles to five nominees for the best foreign language film Oscar.

Films on the shortlist included Wim Wenders' 3D documentary on Pina Bausch, Pina, and Poland's In Darkness, directed by Agnieszka Holland.

Israeli film Footnote, directed by Joseph Cedar also made the list, along with Morocco's Omar Killed Me and Taiwan's Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale.

Belgium's Bullhead, Canada's Monsieur Lazhar and Denmark's Superclásico rounded out the group of nine.

Oscar nominations will be announced January 24. The awards will be handed out in Hollywood on February 26.