The Rocket selected as Australia s entry in the Academy Awards

The feature film The Rocket has been selected as the Australian entry for consideration for Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards , with nominations to be announced early 2014.

To be eligible for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film Award, a film must be defined by predominantly non-English dialogue and have been released in its country of origin for at least seven days. Each country can submit one film for nomination consideration. Lore was Australia's official entry in 2012.

Written and directed by Kim Mordaunt and produced by Sylvia Wilczynski, The Rocket is in Lao language. The film is the story of a Lao boy who leads his family, along with a couple of ragged misfits, across war-torn Laos to the dangerous Rocket Festival competition, where he builds a giant rocket to try to prove he's not cursed.

The Rocket won Best Feature in the Generation Kplus program as well as the Best First Feature Award and Amnesty International Film Prize at this year's Berlinale. It also won Best Narrative Feature, Best Actor and the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival, and the Audience Award at Sydney Film Festival and Melbourne Film Festival. It will have its UK premiere at the London Film Festival and Asian premiere at the Busan International Film Festival in October.

The Rocket is currently showing in cinemas in Australia.

The Rocket was financed by Screen Australia, in association with Screen NSW, Ton Enterprises, Curious Film, Ecoventure, Colin and Karen McCumstie and Milsearch. The film was developed by Screen Australia and Screen NSW. The Rocket is being distributed in Australia by Curious Film and is represented internationally by LevelK ApS. Its US Distributor is Kino Lorber.

The 86th Academy Award nominations will be announced on 16 January 2014, with the awards presented on 2 March 2014.

Media Enquiries

Teri Calder T: 02 8113 5833; M: 0408 440 995

teri.calder@screenaustralia.gov.au

LINK:	http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/news_and_events/2013/mr_130910_rocke...
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