Cedar's 'Footnote' shortlisted for Oscars
Israeli film among nine movies picked for Academy Awards' best foreign film shortlist, alongside award-winning Iranian picture 'A Separation'
"We are happy and excited to be on the shortlist," Cedar said in response to the news, "but the real meaning is another tense week ahead of the next screening."
The film stars Shlomo Bar Aba, Lior Ashkenazi, Alma Zack and Yuval Scharf. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the rights to distribute the film in North and South America.
Cedar, 42, won an Oscar nomination for his 2007 film "Beaufort" about the Israeli army's withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Shlomo Bar Aba (R) and Lior Ashkenazi in 'Footnote' (Photo: Ran Mendelson)
"Footnote" will compete against award-winning Iranian film "A Separation", which tells the story of a couple struggling with the decision of whether to leave their country.
The Iranian movie 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 honors, in February.
The shortlist, which also included films from Taiwan, Poland 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, 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 "Superclבsico" rounded out the group of nine.
Oscar nominations will be announced January 24. The awards will be handed out in Hollywood on February 26.
