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"Sunstroke" film by Russia’s Nikita Mikhalkov not included in Oscar shortlist

The shortlist includes films by directors from Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and Jordan

MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. The "Solnechny Udar" ("Sunstroke") movie by Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov has not been included in the shortlist of the Best Foreign Language Film nomination of the Oscar award. The shortlist was published on the Academy website on Friday.

Nine features will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 88th Academy Awards, according to the information posted on the website. The shortlist includes films by directors from Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and Jordan.

Russia previously submitted Nikita Mikhalkov's "Solnechny Udar" for the best foreign-language Oscar. The film is based on works by Nobel Prize-winning Russian author Ivan Bunin - the short story "Sunstroke" and the book "The Cursed Days." The director first conceived it in the early 1980s, but did not start writing the script until 2010. The world premiere of "Sunstroke" was held in Belgrade on October 3, 2014. In Russia, the film was premiered in Crimea on October 4 before a nationwide release on October 9.

In January 2015, Mikhalkov’s film won Russia’s Golden Eagle award in the nomination Best Film of 2014. Then Russia nominated it for an Oscar in the best foreign language film category.

Nikita Mikhalkov is the Oscar award winner for his "Utomlennye Solntsem" ("Burnt by the Sun") film. Also, the director’s films "Urga: Close to Eden" and "12" were nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign film. The nomination of the "Burnt by the Sun 2: Citadel" in 2011 provoked a scandal in the Russian Oscar committee. Then director Vladimir Menshov publicly refused to sign the decision on the nomination of Mikhalkov’s film, after which the Oscar committee was reshuffled, however, Menshov remained its chairman.

Last year, Russia was represented in the Oscar nomination by Andrei Zvyagintsev’s "Leviathan" drama that was awarded a prize for the best screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival. However, Zvyagintsev’s film lost the Academy competition to the black and white film "Ida" by Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski in the best foreign language film nomination.

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