Serge Avedikian and Olena Fetisova’s Paradjanov, Ukraine’s candidate for the foreign language Oscar was not included in the Academy Award shortlist.

Oscars organisers shortlisted nine movies for best foreign language prize. The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Belgium, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen, director

Bosnia and Herzegovina, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, Danis Tanovic, director

Cambodia, The Missing Picture, Rithy Panh, director

Denmark, The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg, director

Germany, Two Lives, Georg Maas, director

Hong Kong, The Grandmaster, Wong Kar-wai, director

Hungary, The Notebook, Janos Szasz, director

Italy, The Great Beauty, Paolo Sorrentino, director

Palestine, Omar, Hany Abu-Assad, director

Paradjanov, co-produced with Ukraine, France, Georgia and Armenia, stars Avedikian as the brilliant director, whose nonconformist behavior conflicts with Soviet System. Parajanov’s eccentricities land him in jail, where his indestructible love for beauty allows him to withstand the years of imprisonment, isolation and oblivion.

Paradjanov was named the best feature film at Odessa Festival.