Martin Pieter Zandvliet’s post-World War II drama ‘Under sandet’ (’Land of Mine’) has been shortlisted along with eight other films for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. In total, there were 85 submissions under consideration.
Remarkably, it is the sixth time in seven years that the Danish entry has been included on the nine-film list, which will be reduced to five when the nominations are announced on January 24.
Five of those six films shortlisted went on to be nominated, and one won: Susanne Bier’s ‘Hævnen’ in 2010.
For the first time in history, three Scandinavian films have made the shortlist, as Norway’s ‘Kongens nei’ (‘The King’s Choice’) and Sweden’s ‘En man som heter Ove’ (‘A Man Called Ove’) also made the list.
The favourite is the German comedy ‘Toni Erdmann’, which has already been named the film of the year on several 2016 lists.
READ MORE: War film submitted as Denmark’s Oscar entry
US release next year
‘Under sandet’ follows a troop of German POWs digging up landmines in Denmark laid by their own army years earlier.
It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year before being released at Danish cinemas in December, where it sold 175,000 tickets. A US release is expected next year.
The Oscars are on February 26.
