the beginning of his conquest of much of the known world. In January 2008, AMPAS announced that Mongol had been selected from among 63 films as one of the five nominees for Best Foreign Language Film of the year. It eventually lost to Austria's The Counterfeiters. Both of Bodrov's films were international co-productions featuring multi-national casts dubbed into Kazakh and Mongolian respectively. The lead actor in Nomad was American actor Jay Hernandez, while other supporting cast members came from Kazakhstan, Mexico and the USA. The lead actor in Mongol was Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano, while most of the supporting cast hailed from China and Mongolia. In Fall 2008, Kazakhstan chose a non-action film for the first time. Comedy Tulpan tells the story of a young Kazakh sailor who returns home to landlocked Kazakhstan to search for a bride after serving in the military in Russia and begins trying to woo the only single girl in the entire region. Tulpan won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and Best Feature Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, as well as major awards at film festivals in Karlovy Vary and Tokyo. In Fall 2009, Kelin, an obscure costume drama about a girl forced into an arranged marriage, and made with no dialogue, was selected over much-favored Gift to Stalin. It impressed the Oscar committee so much that it made the nine-film Oscar shortlist announced in January 2010. Nomad, Mongol and Tulpan were released theatrically in a number of Western countries, including the United States in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively, as well as throughout the former USSR, and all are available on DVD with English subtitles. Kelin is available on DVD in Kazakhstan. 1997 Academy Award nominee Prisoner of the Mountains from Russia (and also directed by Sergei Bodrov) was a Kazakh co-production and the 1974 Soviet submission, The Ferocious One was co-produced by a Kazakh film studio. See also List of Soviet submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film Notes References Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award submissions by country Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Lists of films by country of production Academy Award