Oliver Laxe’s "Sirât," which won the jury prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, has been selected as Spain’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th annual Academy Awards.
The film was picked on Wednesday by the Spanish Film Academy. "Sirât" was chosen from a shortlist of three films that also included Carla Simón’s Romería and Eva Libertad’s Sorda.
"Sirât" follows a man (Sergi López) and his son (Bruno Núñez Arjona) arrive at a remote rave in the mountains of southern Morocco. They are looking for Mar, their daughter and sister, who disappeared months ago at one of these parties that never end. They hand out her photo over and over again, surrounded by electronic music and a kind of freedom they have never known. There, they decide to follow a group of ravers in search of one last party to be held in the desert, where they hope to find the missing young woman.
The film stars veteran actor Sergi Lopez alongside Bruno Núñez Arjona, Richard Bellamy, Stefania Gadda, and Joshua Liam Henderson.
"Sirât" is an original Movistar Plus+ film produced in collaboration with Filmes da Ermida, El Deseo, Uri Films and 4a4 Productions, distributed in Spain by Bteam Pictures. International sales are handled by The Match Factory. Neon will release the film in the U.S.
Filmmaker Pablo Berger, who was Oscar-nominated last year for "Robot Dreams," announced the pick Wednesday morning. He was joined by Spanish Academy President Fernando Méndez-Leite.
Spain’s pick last year was "Saturn Return" by Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez. The film did not make the shortlist.
"Sirât" will screen at the upcoming San Sebastian Film Festival.
The deadline for submission to the Best International Feature Film category of the 98th Academy Awards is October 1.
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