Oscars: UK submission for Foreign Language Oscar is ‘Metro Manila’

Metro Manila, which was shown at the Sundance Film festival earlier this year, has been picked by the U.K. to represent the country in the Foreign Language Oscar race.

According to Deadline, Metro Manila was directed by Sean Ellis, who was nominated for an Oscar for the 2006 short Cashback. He shot Metro Manila in Tagalog and tells the story of a poor farmer who goes to the city to get a job to support his family. The farmer ends up in a criminal enterprise after taking being hired to drive an armored transport.

The film won Sundance’s Audience Award in the World Cinema section. Frankie E. Flowers co-wrote the script with Ellis. It opened in the U.K. today.

Paladin will distribute the film in the U.S. and Fox International Productions has the rights to do an English-language adaptation.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that voting for Oscar nominations ends on Friday, Dec. 27 and the nominees will be announced on Jan. 16, 2014.

The Foreign Oscar race will be more interesting this season because the Cannes Festival’s Palme D’Or winner, Blue Is The Warmest Color, is not eligible.

Back on Monday, Deadline reported that the French entry will be the biopic Renoir since that film was released in the eligibility period (Oct. 1, 2012 to Sept. 30, 2013). Blue is not coming out until a week after the eligibility period, but since Sundance Selects will release it in LA and New York before the end of 2013, it will be eligible for other Oscars.