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Russian film director says Anna Karenina: Vronsky’s Story will contend for Oscar

Three of Karen Shakhnazarov's pictures had previously claimed an Oscar Award

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. The Anna Karenina: Vronsky’s Story movie will claim a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination, film director Karen Shakhnazarov told TASS on Wednesday.

Russia’s Oscar committee, headed by film director Vladimir Menshov, is expected to nominate a movie to represent the country at the Academy Awards before October 1. According to a committee source, the main contenders have already been chosen - they particularly include Shakhnazarov’s Anna Karenina: Vronsky’s Story, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Loveless, Alexey Uchitel’s Matilda, Boris Khlebnikov’s Arrhythmia and Dmitry Kiselev’s The Spacewalker.

Shakhnazarov’s view

" I know that my picture is on the nomination list, we’ll see how it goes," Shakhnazarov said, adding that "it’s okay" with him is the move earns an Oscar nomination. "These are the game’s rules, I can’t say that I will faint from joy if the picture is nominated after all," the film director joked.

He pointed out that three of his pictures, including Ward No. 6 and White Tiger, had previously claimed an Oscar Award. At the same time, Shakhnazaorv said that if needed, he could present his movie to the committee members.

The film director also said that on August 24, his picture would be shown at the opening ceremony of the 41st Montreal World Film Festival. "The film is included in the main competition program," Zhakhnazarov added. The Anna Karenina: Vronsky’s Story movie, starring Yelizaveta Boyarskaya and Maksim Matveyev, is based upon the novel by Leo Tolstoy. It is a film version of the Shakhnazarov-directed TV show broadcast by the Rossyia-1.

Loveless, Matilda, Arrhythmia

Producer Alexander Rodnyansky earlier announced plans to claim an Oscar nomination for Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Loveless. The press service of the Non Stop Production company confirmed these plans to TASS. "Yes, we plan to show this film to the Oscar committee," a company source said.

Matilda film director Alexey Uchitel also told TASS that he intended to compete for an Oscar nomination. The movie needs to have a so-called limited release before its premiere scheduled for October 26, since according to the Academy Awards rules, only pictures released before October 1 are eligible for the Best Foreign Language Film nomination.

The same goes for Khlebnikov’s Arrythmia, which is expected to come out on October 5. "We plan to contend for an Oscar nomination," one of the film’s producers, Sergey Selyanov, confirmed to TASS on Wednesday. "In late September, the picture will be released limitedly," he added.