Nikolaj Arcel's historical drama "A Royal Affair" is among the final nine films on the Oscar shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film. The final nominations will be announced on 10 January, and the 85th Academy Awards will be held on 24 February 2013.
"It's hard to imagine a greater conclusion of the awards- and festival year. A Danish film on the Oscar shortlist for two years running is an outstanding achievement," says Henrik Bo Nielsen, CEO of the Danish Film Institute.
"A Royal Affair" features Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander and Mikkel Boe Følsgaard in a historical drama of passion and politics from the Age of Enlightenment. The film took home two Silver Bears from the Berlinale in February, won an Audience Award at the AFI Fest in November and has also received a series of nominations. Last week, it received nominations for both a Golden Globe and a Critics' Choice Movie Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Three Danish films have previously won an Oscar in the Foreign Language category, most recently in 2011, when Susanne Bier's "In a Better World" received the prestigious award. Last year, Ole Christian Madsen's "Superclásico" made it to the shortlist.
"A Royal Affair" is produced by Louise Vesth, Sisse Graum Jørgensen, and Meta Louise Foldager for Zentropa. Executive producers are Lars von Trier, Peter Aalbæk Jensen and Peter Garde, and the screenplay is by Rasmus Heisterberg and Nikolaj Arcel.
"A Royal Affair" opened in the US, France and Spain in November, and in the UK in June. The film has received funding support by The Danish Film Institute, and TrustNordisk handles international sales.
The other shortlisted films are Michael Haneke's "Amour" (Austria), Kim Nguyen's "War Witch" (Canada), Pablo Larrain's "No" (Chile), Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano's "The Intouchables", Ursala Meier's "Sister" (Switzerland), Baltasar Kormákur' "The Deep" (Iceland), Cristian Mungiu's "Beyond The Hills" (Romania) and Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg's "Kon-Tiki" (Norway).