london , england -lrb- cnn -rrb- -- each year , any country in the non-english speaking world that wants to be in with a chance of winning must choose just one film to represent the entire output of their country 's filmmaking industry . mark mccall believes neutral territory offers saracens hope of toppling mighty clermont to reach a second successive european final . marcelo bosch landed a long-range penalty in the final act of sunday 's showdown with racing metro to clinch a 12-11 victory that has set up a last-four trip to st etienne 's stade geoffroy-guichard on april 18 . awaiting in the champions cup semi-finals are clermont , who are bristling with confidence after their remarkable 37-5 rout of runaway aviva premiership leaders northampton . marcelo bosch launches a long range penalty towards the posts with the final act of saracens ' quarter-final . the argentinian centre is then mobbed by his team-mates after landing the match-winning kick . however , mccall believes that facing clermont outside of their stade marcel-michelin stronghold , where they have not lost in europe since 2008 , is a different proposition . ` given clermont 's home record , it 's bit of a relief to be playing them on neutral territory . we 're still going to france , but it 's not quite the same as going to their own ground , ' mccall said . saracens ' prospects against the top 14 's second-placed team are likely to be improved by the return of centre brad barritt from an ankle injury , while there is an outside chance fly-half owen farrell could recover from his knee problem in time . ` we have some pretty tough fixtures coming up - leicester next saturday is a massive game for us and after clermont we have northampton in the premiership , ' mccall said . ` we have some players coming back and will have to spread the load during this period . brad should be back for the champions cup semi-final , owen is touch and go . ' northampton 's players look shell-shocked after they were demolished by clermont auvergne . saracens hardly sent shockwaves across the continent after dispatching racing in an arm wrestle decided by bosch 's nerveless penalty , but mccall insists the result is all that matters . then , over two months , a 30-strong panel whittles the entries -- there were 63 this year -- down to to a shortlist of just five . here is a roundup of films that were in the running this year ... . mongol . country : kazakhstan director : sergei bodrov synopsis : in twelfth-century mongolia , nine-year-old temudgin , is a slave . he will grow up to become the warrior known as genghis khan . but not before he has to flee his home shortly when his father is murdered and a rival seizes power . with the help of his blood brother , tribal prince jamukha , the adult temudgin battles his rivals and works to unite the region 's warring clans under his authority . background : this was the first academy award nomination for kazakhstan . despite the kazakh nationality , the film has a cosmopolitan cast and crew . bodrov , the director is russian , the star is japanese and the film features chinese and mongolian supporting actors . ... . ` sometimes the games are the way they are and we must n't over analyse these things , ' mccall said . ` we 've come away to france and played a big , strong , very good team with outstanding half-backs , but we 've won . ` we should n't worry too much about how we won , but just that we won and reached our third consecutive semi-final in this tough competition . that says a lot about the players we have . ` when you look at ronan o'gara at munster and jonny sexton at leinster , they lost quarters and semis over the years before they started winning them . mark mccall watches on as charlie hodgson warms up before sunday 's dramatic european win . ` we lost the quarter to clermont four years ago and the semis to toulon two years ago , and you saw out there that racing did n't really know how to win the game . ` they had this big strong wind they did n't use because of the pressure they were under , and that was down to our team . ' racing 's jamie roberts expects to end speculation over his future this week with the british and irish lions centre likely to sign a dual contract in wales . beaufort . country : israel director : joseph cedar synopsis : set in lebanon in 2000 , in the days leading up to israel 's withdrawal , the soldiers stationed at the mountaintop outpost of beaufort live under a barrage of constant attacks . the film tells the story of liraz liberti , the 22-year-old commander of beaufort , and his troops . frustrated by the knowledge that they are risking -- and often losing -- their lives in defense of a fortress that will soon be abandoned , the men struggle to do their duty while grieving for their dead comrades and preparing for the evacuation . background : beaufort was nominated for a golden bear at berlin , and won silver bear . this was israel 's 6th oscar nomination , although it was the first one for 24 years . israel has not yet won the award . ` hopefully it will be sorted this week . i do n't want to say anything until it 's sorted , ' roberts said . ... . katyn . country : poland director : andrzej wajda synopsis : the film is an account of captured polish officers massacred by soviet secret police in the katyn forest during wwii . the story focuses on anna , the wife of a murdered captain , who refuses to believe he is dead . background : andrzej wajda was awarded an oscar in 2000 for `` five decades of extraordinary film direction . '' as well as being a very personal film for wajda who 's father was killed at katyn , the film has had huge political impact in poland . angela merkel and members of the german cabinet attended the premiere of the film at this year 's berlin film festival . this was the eighth nomination for poland . ... . the counterfeiters country : austria director : stefan ruzowitzky synopsis : the story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history . the nazis are plotting to cause the collapse of the us and british economies by flooding their markets with false bills . a group of prisoners in the sachsenhausen concentration camp are put to work under the direction of a master counterfeiter making replicas of foreign bank notes . some of the prisoners use delaying tactics to hinder the plan . background : the eventual winner of the oscar in what was the second nomination for austria . ... 12 country : russia director : nikita mikhalkov synopsis : twelve russian jurors deciding the fate of a young chechen accused of murdering his adoptive russian father go over the details of the case in the school gymnasium that is serving as their jury room . as they argue , a young juror manages to convince them that maybe the case is n't as clear cut as it first seemed . the case itself becomes a metaphor for the problems plaguing modern russian society . background : mikhalkov stars in , directs and produces the film . this was the fifth nomination for russia . before 1992 the ussr received a total of nine nominations including three wins for moscow does not believe in tears -lrb- 1980 -rrb- , dersu uzala -lrb- 1975 -rrb- , war and peace -lrb- 1968 -rrb- e-mail to a friend .
a roundup of 2008 oscars best foreign film nominations . nominated countries were : poland , russia , kazakhstan , israel and austria . there was a strong political vein running through the nominated films this year . veteran polish filmmaker andrzej wajda was previously awarded an oscar in 2000 .
london , england -lrb- cnn -rrb- -- each year , any country in the non-english speaking world that wants to be in with a chance of winning must choose just one film to represent the entire output of their country 's filmmaking industry . mark mccall believes neutral territory offers saracens hope of toppling mighty clermont to reach a second successive european final . marcelo bosch landed a long-range penalty in the final act of sunday 's showdown with racing metro to clinch a 12-11 victory that has set up a last-four trip to st etienne 's stade geoffroy-guichard on april 18 . awaiting in the champions cup semi-finals are clermont , who are bristling with confidence after their remarkable 37-5 rout of runaway aviva premiership leaders northampton . marcelo bosch launches a long range penalty towards the posts with the final act of saracens ' quarter-final . the argentinian centre is then mobbed by his team-mates after landing the match-winning kick . however , mccall believes that facing clermont outside of their stade marcel-michelin stronghold , where they have not lost in europe since 2008 , is a different proposition . ` given clermont 's home record , it 's bit of a relief to be playing them on neutral territory . we 're still going to france , but it 's not quite the same as going to their own ground , ' mccall said . saracens ' prospects against the top 14 's second-placed team are likely to be improved by the return of centre brad barritt from an ankle injury , while there is an outside chance fly-half owen farrell could recover from his knee problem in time . ` we have some pretty tough fixtures coming up - leicester next saturday is a massive game for us and after clermont we have northampton in the premiership , ' mccall said . ` we have some players coming back and will have to spread the load during this period . brad should be back for the champions cup semi-final , owen is touch and go . ' northampton 's players look shell-shocked after they were demolished by clermont auvergne . saracens hardly sent shockwaves across the continent after dispatching racing in an arm wrestle decided by bosch 's nerveless penalty , but mccall insists the result is all that matters . then , over two months , a 30-strong panel whittles the entries -- there were 63 this year -- down to to a shortlist of just five . here is a roundup of films that were in the running this year ... . mongol . country : kazakhstan director : sergei bodrov synopsis : in twelfth-century mongolia , nine-year-old temudgin , is a slave . he will grow up to become the warrior known as genghis khan . but not before he has to flee his home shortly when his father is murdered and a rival seizes power . with the help of his blood brother , tribal prince jamukha , the adult temudgin battles his rivals and works to unite the region 's warring clans under his authority . background : this was the first academy award nomination for kazakhstan . despite the kazakh nationality , the film has a cosmopolitan cast and crew . bodrov , the director is russian , the star is japanese and the film features chinese and mongolian supporting actors . ... . ` sometimes the games are the way they are and we must n't over analyse these things , ' mccall said . ` we 've come away to france and played a big , strong , very good team with outstanding half-backs , but we 've won . ` we should n't worry too much about how we won , but just that we won and reached our third consecutive semi-final in this tough competition . that says a lot about the players we have . ` when you look at ronan o'gara at munster and jonny sexton at leinster , they lost quarters and semis over the years before they started winning them . mark mccall watches on as charlie hodgson warms up before sunday 's dramatic european win . ` we lost the quarter to clermont four years ago and the semis to toulon two years ago , and you saw out there that racing did n't really know how to win the game . ` they had this big strong wind they did n't use because of the pressure they were under , and that was down to our team . ' racing 's jamie roberts expects to end speculation over his future this week with the british and irish lions centre likely to sign a dual contract in wales . beaufort . country : israel director : joseph cedar synopsis : set in lebanon in 2000 , in the days leading up to israel 's withdrawal , the soldiers stationed at the mountaintop outpost of beaufort live under a barrage of constant attacks . the film tells the story of liraz liberti , the 22-year-old commander of beaufort , and his troops . frustrated by the knowledge that they are risking -- and often losing -- their lives in defense of a fortress that will soon be abandoned , the men struggle to do their duty while grieving for their dead comrades and preparing for the evacuation . background : beaufort was nominated for a golden bear at berlin , and won silver bear . this was israel 's 6th oscar nomination , although it was the first one for 24 years . israel has not yet won the award . ` hopefully it will be sorted this week . i do n't want to say anything until it 's sorted , ' roberts said . ... . katyn . country : poland director : andrzej wajda synopsis : the film is an account of captured polish officers massacred by soviet secret police in the katyn forest during wwii . the story focuses on anna , the wife of a murdered captain , who refuses to
london , england -lrb- cnn -rrb- -- each year , any country in the non-english speaking world that wants to be in with a chance of winning must choose just one film to represent the entire output of their country 's filmmaking industry . mark mccall believes neutral territory offers saracens hope of toppling mighty clermont to reach a second successive european final . marcelo bosch landed a long-range penalty in the final act of sunday 's showdown with racing metro to clinch a 12-11 victory that has set up a last-four trip to st etienne 's stade geoffroy-guichard on april 18 . awaiting in the champions cup semi-finals are clermont , who are bristling with confidence after their remarkable 37-5 rout of runaway aviva premiership leaders northampton . marcelo bosch launches a long range penalty towards the posts with the final act of saracens ' quarter-final . the argentinian centre is then mobbed by his team-mates after landing the match-winning kick . however , mccall believes that facing clermont outside of their stade marcel-michelin stronghold , where they have not lost in europe since 2008 , is a different proposition . ` given clermont 's home record , it 's bit of a relief to be playing them on neutral territory . we 're still going to france , but it 's not quite the same as going to their own ground , ' mccall said . saracens ' prospects against the top 14 's second-placed team are likely to be improved by the return of centre brad barritt from an ankle injury , while there is an outside chance fly-half owen farrell could recover from his knee problem in time . ` we have some pretty tough fixtures coming up - leicester next saturday is a massive game for us and after clermont we have northampton in the premiership , ' mccall said . ` we have some players coming back and will have to spread the load during this period . brad should be back for the champions cup semi-final , owen is touch and go . ' northampton 's players look shell-shocked after they were demolished by clermont auvergne . saracens hardly sent shockwaves across the continent after dispatching racing in an arm wrestle decided by bosch 's nerveless penalty , but mccall insists the result is all that matters . then , over two months , a 30-strong panel whittles the entries -- there were 63 this year -- down to to a shortlist of just five . here is a roundup of films that were in the running this year ... . mongol . country : kazakhstan director : sergei bodrov synopsis : in twelfth-century mongolia , nine-year-old temudgin , is a slave . he will grow up to become the warrior known as genghis khan . but not before he has to flee his home shortly when his father is murdered and a rival seizes power . with the help of his blood brother , tribal prince jamukha , the adult temudgin battles his rivals reached our third consecutive semi-final in this tough competition . that says a lot about the players we have . ` when you look at ronan o'gara at munster and jonny sexton at leinster , they lost quarters and semis over the years before they started winning them . mark mccall watches on as charlie hodgson warms up before sunday 's dramatic european win . ` we lost the quarter to clermont four years ago and the semis to toulon two years ago , and you saw out there that racing did n't really know how to win the game . ` they had this big strong wind they did n't use because of the pressure they were under , and that was down to our team . ' racing 's jamie roberts expects to end speculation over his future this week with the british and irish lions centre likely to sign a dual contract in wales . beaufort . country : israel director : joseph cedar synopsis : set in lebanon in 2000 , in the days leading up to israel 's withdrawal , the soldiers stationed at the mountaintop outpost of beaufort live under a barrage of constant attacks . the film tells the story of liraz liberti , the 22-year-old commander of beaufort , and his troops . frustrated by the knowledge that they are risking -- and often losing -- their lives in defense of a fortress that will soon be abandoned , the men struggle to do their duty while grieving believe he is dead . background : andrzej wajda was awarded an oscar in 2000 for `` five decades of extraordinary film direction . '' as well as being a very personal film for wajda who 's father was killed at katyn , the film has had huge political impact in poland . angela merkel and members of the german cabinet attended the premiere of the film at this year 's berlin film festival . this was the eighth nomination for poland . ... . the counterfeiters country : austria director : stefan ruzowitzky synopsis : the story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history . the nazis are plotting to cause the collapse of the us and british economies by flooding their markets with false bills . the case itself becomes a metaphor for the problems plaguing modern russian society . background : mikhalkov stars in , directs and produces the film . this was the fifth nomination for russia . before 1992 the ussr received a total of nine nominations including three wins for moscow does not believe in tears -lrb- 1980 -rrb- , dersu uzala -lrb- 1975 -rrb- , war and peace -lrb- 1968 -rrb- e-mail to a friend .
london, england -lrb- cnn -- each year any country that wants in with a chance must choose just one film represent the entire output mark mccall believes neutral territory offers saracens hope toppling mighty clermont to reach a second successive european final. marcelo bosch landed a long-range penalty the final act sunday 's showdown racing metro to clinch that has set st etienne 's stade geoffroy-guichard on april 18. awaiting in the champions cup semi are clermont, bristling confidence their remarkable 37-5 rout runaway aviva premiership leaders northampton. marcelo bosch launches a long range penalty towards the posts with the final act saracens ' quarter. the argentinian centre is then mobbed after landing. however, mccall believes facing clermont outside their stade marcel-michelin stronghold, where not lost in europe since 2008 a different proposition ` given clermont 's home record, bit playing them neutral territory. we 're still france, quite going their own ground ' mccall said saracens ' prospects against the top 14 's second-placed team likely improved centre brad barritt from, there an outside chance fly-half owen farrell recover. ` we some pretty tough fixtures up - leicester next saturday is after clermont northampton the premiership, ' mccall said. ` we some players coming will spread during. brad should back the champions cup semi, owen touch. ' northampton 's players look shell they demolished clermont auvergne. saracens hardly sent shockwaves across dispatching racing in an arm wrestle decided bosch 's nerveless penalty, mccall insists the result all then, over two months, a 30-strong panel whittles the entries -- there 63 this to just. here a roundup films in this... . mongol. country : kazakhstan director sergei bodrov synopsis in twelfth-century mongolia, nine-year-old temudgin, is a slave. he will grow the warrior known genghis khan. but not before has to flee shortly when a rival seizes. with his blood brother, tribal prince jamukha the adult temudgin battles his rivals works unite under background : this was the first academy award nomination kazakhstan. despite the kazakh nationality, the film a cosmopolitan cast crew. bodrov, the director is russian the star film features ... . ` sometimes the games the way we must n't over analyse these things, ' mccall said ` we 've come away to france and played a big, strong, very good team with outstanding half-backs but won. ` we should n't worry too how won, just that and reached third consecutive semi this tough competition. that says the players we. ` when look ronan o'gara at munster jonny sexton leinster, lost quarters semis over before started winning them. mark mccall watches on as charlie hodgson warms before sunday 's dramatic european win. ` we lost the quarter to clermont four the semis to toulon, you saw out racing did n't know the game. ` they had this big strong wind they did n't use because, that down our team. ' racing 's jamie roberts expects end speculation this the british and irish lions centre likely sign in wales. beaufort. country : israel director joseph cedar synopsis set lebanon in 2000, in the days israel 's withdrawal, the soldiers stationed the mountaintop outpost beaufort live a barrage constant attacks. the film tells liraz liberti, beaufort, and. frustrated the knowledge risking -- often defense a fortress will abandoned, the men struggle do while grieving preparing the evacuation. background : beaufort was nominated a golden bear at berlin, won silver bear. this israel 's 6th oscar nomination, although the 24 years israel has not yet won the award. ` hopefully sorted this. i do n't until 's sorted, ' roberts said. ... . katyn. country : poland director andrzej wajda synopsis the film an account captured polish officers massacred soviet secret police the katyn forest during wwii. the story focuses anna, the wife a murdered captain refuses believe background : andrzej wajda was awarded an oscar 2000 `` five decades extraordinary film direction. '' as well being a very personal film for wajda who 's father killed at katyn, had huge political impact poland. angela merkel and members the german cabinet attended the premiere this year 's berlin film festival. this the eighth nomination poland. ... . the counterfeiters country : austria director stefan ruzowitzky synopsis the story. the nazis plotting cause the collapse the us and british economies flooding false bills. a group prisoners the sachsenhausen concentration camp are put under a master counterfeiter making replicas foreign bank notes. some the prisoners use delaying hinder the plan. background : the eventual winner the oscar in what the second nomination austria. ... 12 country : russia director : nikita mikhalkov synopsis twelve russian jurors deciding a young chechen his adoptive russian father go over the school gymnasium that serving their jury room. as they argue, a young juror manages them maybe n't clear first seemed the case itself becomes a metaphor modern russian society. background : mikhalkov stars, directs and produces. this the fifth nomination russia. before 1992 the ussr received nine nominations including three wins moscow does believe tears -lrb- 1980 -rrb-, dersu uzala 1975 war and 1968 e- to.
london , england -lrb- cnn -rrb- -- each year , any country in the non-english speaking world that wants to be in with a chance of winning must choose just one film to represent the entire output of their country 's filmmaking industry . mark mccall believes neutral territory offers saracens hope of toppling mighty clermont to reach a second successive european final . marcelo bosch landed a long-range penalty in the final act of sunday 's showdown with racing metro to clinch a 12-11 victory that has set up a last-four trip to st etienne 's stade geoffroy-guichard on april 18 . awaiting in the champions cup semi-finals are clermont , who are bristling with confidence after their remarkable 37-5 rout of runaway aviva premiership leaders northampton . marcelo bosch launches a long range penalty towards the posts with the final act of saracens ' quarter-final . the argentinian centre is then mobbed by his team-mates after landing the match-winning kick . however , mccall believes that facing clermont outside of their stade marcel-michelin stronghold , where they have not lost in europe since 2008 , is a different proposition . ` given clermont 's home record , it 's bit of a relief to be playing them on neutral territory . we 're still going to france , but it 's not quite the same as going to their own ground , ' mccall said . saracens ' prospects against the top 14 's second-placed team are likely to be improved by the return of centre brad barritt from an ankle injury , while there is an outside chance fly-half owen farrell could recover from his knee problem in time . ` we have some pretty tough fixtures coming up - leicester next saturday is a massive game for us and after clermont we have northampton in the premiership , ' mccall said . ` we have some players coming back and will have to spread the load during this period . brad should be back for the champions cup semi-final , owen is touch and go . ' northampton 's players look shell-shocked after they were demolished by clermont auvergne . saracens hardly sent shockwaves across the continent after dispatching racing in an arm wrestle decided by bosch 's nerveless penalty , but mccall insists the result is all that matters . then , over two months , a 30-strong panel whittles the entries -- there were 63 this year -- down to to a shortlist of just five . here is a roundup of films that were in the running this year ... . mongol . country : kazakhstan director : sergei bodrov synopsis : in twelfth-century mongolia , nine-year-old temudgin , is a slave . he will grow up to become the warrior known as genghis khan . but not before he has to flee his home shortly when his father is murdered and a rival seizes power . with the help of his blood brother , tribal prince jamukha , the adult temudgin battles his rivals ' racing 's jamie roberts expects to end speculation over his future this week with the british and irish lions centre likely to sign a dual contract in wales . beaufort . country : israel director : joseph cedar synopsis : set in lebanon in 2000 , in the days leading up to israel 's withdrawal , the soldiers stationed at the mountaintop outpost of beaufort live under a barrage of constant attacks . the film tells the story of liraz liberti , the 22-year-old commander of beaufort , and his troops . frustrated by the knowledge that they are risking -- and often losing -- their lives in defense of a fortress that will soon be abandoned , the men struggle to do their duty while grieving for their dead comrades and preparing for the evacuation . background : beaufort was nominated for a golden bear at berlin , and won silver bear . this was israel 's 6th oscar nomination , although it was the first one for 24 years . israel has not yet won the award . ` hopefully it will be sorted this week . i do n't want to say anything until it 's sorted , ' roberts said . ... . katyn . country : poland director : andrzej wajda synopsis : the film is an account of captured polish officers massacred by soviet secret police in the katyn forest during wwii . the story focuses on anna , the wife of a murdered captain , who refuses to
 The text appears to be discussing various topics related to film and cinema, including awards, festivals, and notable films and filmmakers. It mentions specific movies, directors, and actors, as well as industry trends and events.