Denmark has picked Martin Zandvliet’s Land of Mine, a drama that sheds light on a little-known chapter of World War II, as its submission for the Oscars in the best foreign-language film category.
The Danish selection committee unanimously picked Zandvliet’s feature over the other two shortlist candidates: Thomas Vinterberg’s The Commune and Lisa Ohlin’s Walk With Me.
Land of Mine is set in May 1945, just after the official end of battle in Europe. The Allied forces use German POWs to do the deadly work of finding and defusing the land mines clogging the Danish coastline. Land of Mine had its world premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
Sony Pictures Classics picked up Land of Mine for the U.S. and will be releasing the film domestically later this year. K5 Media Group is handling international sales.
Tiny Denmark has one of the best records when it comes to the foreign-language Oscars. The country has racked up a total of 11 nominations and three wins, most recently for Susanne Bier’s In a Better World in 2010.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce its 2017 shortlist of foreign-language film nominees on Jan 17. The final five nominees will be announced Jan. 24. The Oscars will be held Feb. 26.
