Samson and Delilah enters the Oscar race

source: screenaustralia.gov

Sleeper-hit Samson and Delilah will be Australia’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

Each country is only allowed to submit one film for consideration in this category and Australia has decided to submit Samson and Delilah. The film must be primarily defined by a predominantly non-English language and have seen a cinematic release in its country of origin for at least seven days. Samson and Delilah recently passed the 20-week mark in Australian cinemas.

The film was written and directed by Warwick Thornton and stars Marissa Gibson as Delilah and Rowan McNamara as Samson. It follows the duo as they are ousted from their community and struggle to survive alone, together.

Samson and Delilah picked up the prestigious Camera d’Or for Best First Feature at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It has grossed over $3 million at the domestic box office, making it the highest grossing Aussie film of the year.

Glen Dunks over at Stale Popcorn pointed out that only four Australian films have ever been submitted for consideration in this category.

They included Clara Law‘s Floating Life (1996), Steve Jacobs‘ La Spagnola (2001), Rolf de Heer‘s Ten Canoes (2006) and Tony Ayres‘ The Home Song Stories (2007). None of these films received a nomination.

Samson and Delilah is a local treasure and although an Oscar nomination could prove elusive, it certainly deserves the respect and attention of any Academy Award winner.

The Oscar nominations will be announced February 2, 2010. The Academy Award ceremony will take place March 7, 2010.

Discuss: Have you seen Samson and Delilah yet? If not, why not?!