By Jill Feiwell
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Fifty-one countries, including first-timers Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tanzania and Uruguay, have entered the race for the 2001 foreign-language film Oscar, besting last year's record competition by five pictures.
Selections were made by juries of filmmakers in each country. Only one picture, which need not have been released in L.A., was accepted per country.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' foreign-language film committee will start screening the entrants on Nov. 28. The five nominees will be announced Feb. 12, along with films in all the other categories; the 74th annual Academy Awards will be held March 24 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
Among the entries are France (Amelie), Austria (The Piano Teacher), Colombia (Our Lady of the Assassins), Bosnia- Herzegovina (No Man's Land), Brazil (Behind the Sun), the Czech Republic (Dark Blue World), Denmark (Italian for Beginners) and Italy (The Son's Room).
Pictures submitted in the foreign-language category may qualify for Oscars in other categories, provided they meet the requirements governing them.
© Reuters/Variety REUTERS