Turkish movie "3 Monkeys" among Oscar's foreign film hopefuls

"3 Monkeys" from Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the best director award winner at the Cannes film festival in May.

The movie centers on a father who takes the rap for his employer’s crime in exchange for financial support for his wife and son, only to have the scheme backfire amid bitter repercussions.

The film stars Yavuz Bingol, Hatice Aslan, Ahmet Rifat Sungar, Ercan Kesal, Cafer Kose and Gurkan Aydin.

Other films in the running include Israel's "Waltz with Bashir," Germany's "The Baader Meinhof Complex," France's "The Class," and Japanese director Yojiro Takita's "Departures."

Jan Troell's "Everlasting Moments" will represent Sweden while from Mexico, Roberto Sneider's "Tear This Heart Out" is in the running.

The other entries are Austria's "Revanche" and Canada's "The Necessities of Life".

Each country can submit only one film for consideration.

The nine films, culled from among 65 entries, were chosen by hundreds of members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and by an executive committee of the organization. The list will be narrowed to five nominees by specially selected committees in New York and Los Angeles, the academy said.

The final five nominees in the foreign film category will be announced on Jan. 22, the academy said.

Last year's foreign-language Oscar winner was "The Counterfeiters," a Holocaust-era drama from Austria.

ART HOUSE FAVORITE
Istanbul born Ceylan, 50, is an art house favorite, and maker of "Uzak" and "Climates".

He is also a master of psychological subtlety and intimacy, shooting meticulously beautiful images helped by his use of high-definition digital video. Â

His first short film "Koza" was screened in the Cannes Film Festival in 1995. He received many awards for his debut feature "Kasaba", and his third feature, "Uzak" received many awards including the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Actor Prize at Cannes, and was praised internationally.

His previous film "Iklimler" won the FIPRESCI Movie Critics' Award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and received international praise by critics and experts. The film won five awards at the 2006 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, where he was awarded the "Best Director" title.