Palestinian film gets Oscar shot

A Palestinian movie is among a record number of contenders for the foreign language film Oscar.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences denied the same Palestinian film, “Divine Intervention,” a shot at the Academy Award last year, saying it didn’t recognize Palestine as a country. It was included this time among the “record 55 countries in competition.”

There were 54 countries last year. The academy said “Divine Intervention” was also denied entry last year because it was submitted by its French producer instead of a proper selection committee based in Palestinian territory.

“This year, the committee decided to treat Palestine as an exception in the same way we treat Hong Kong as an exception,” academy spokesman John Pavlik said. “It’s always the goal of the foreign-language film award executive committee to be as inclusive as possible. And they always bend over backward to do so.”

Nominees will be announced Jan. 27.