The battle ‘royal’ for the Oscar is on

‘En kongelig affære’ is nominated for best foreign language film, while hopeful short ‘9 Meter’ is snubbed

‘En kongelig affære’ (‘A Royal Affair’) has been nominated for an Oscar in the best foreign language film category. The line-ups were announced today in Los Angeles.

After being selected as Denmark’s submission for the award, ‘En kongelig affære’ made the nine-film shortlist for the award on December 21. The historical romance – which depicts a love triangle between a young Danish queen, her royal physician, and her increasingly insane husband, the king of Denmark – has already received a Golden Globe nomination for best foreign language film.

The film will go up against its Norwegian neighbours for the Oscar, who secured a nod for ‘Kon-Tiki’. The other contenders for the award are Canada's 'War Witch', Chile's 'No', and Austria's ‘Amour’, which is a strong favourite to win. The French-language film from Michael Haneke is nominated for Oscars in three other categories, including best picture.

‘En kongelig affære’ is the ninth Danish film to be nominated for an Oscar for best foreign language film – a category it has won three times before. Denmark last took home the award for 2010 with Susanne Bier’s ‘Hævnen’ (‘In a Better World’).

The country’s second Oscar hopeful of 2012, ‘9 Meter’, however, did not fare so well. The film, directed by Anders Walter Hansen, was in contention for best live action short film, and it had made the category’s eleven-film shortlist in late November – but ultimately it failed to secure a nomination.

The 85th Academy Awards will take place on February 24.




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