Wong Kar-wai's period martial arts epic The Grandmaster has become the latest film to be put forward for the Academy awards best foreign language long list, as it received the nod from Hong Kong's Federation of Motion Film Producers.
Starring Lust, Caution's Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Crouching Tiger's Zhang Ziyi, The Grandmaster is a study of the life of kung fu legend Ip Man, and was released in Hong Kong and China to considerable commercial success, with a reported $48m in box office takings. It was also picked as the opening film at the Berlin film festival in February, before a short US release in the summer which took over $6m, by some distance Wong's best US result.
The Grandmaster joins the likes of Gloria (from Chile), Renoir (France), Walesa (Poland), Cannes Camera d'Or winner Ilo Ilo (Singapore) and Wadjda (Saudi Arabia) in the first round of Oscar submissions. The UK has entered the Filipino language thriller Metro Manila. No film from Hong Kong has won the best foreign language Oscar, though it has received two nominations: in 1991 for Raise the Red Lantern and in 1993 for Farewell My Concubine.
