Rajkumar Rao's Newton out of race to win Best Foreign Language Film at Oscars

Rajkumar Rao-starrer Newton, which was India’s entry to the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film category, is out of the race for the top honour.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday announced that nine features will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 90th Academy Awards, according to the official website of the Oscars.

Newton, directed by Amit V. Masurkar and starring Rajkummar Rao  is a story of a bureaucrat who is trying to conduct a free and fair election against all odds in a Naxal area in rural India.

"I'm very grateful to the committee for choosing Newton," Amit V Masurkar said at the time the movie was sent to the Academy. "We are in the theatres today and this announcement will help in making more people watch the film. After all, this is a film we made for India."

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Chile, “A Fantastic Woman,” Sebastián Lelio, director;

Germany, “In the Fade,” Fatih Akin, director;

Hungary, “On Body and Soul,” Ildikó Enyedi, director;

Israel, “Foxtrot,” Samuel Maoz, director;

Lebanon, “The Insult,” Ziad Doueiri, director;

Russia, “Loveless,” Andrey Zvyagintsev, director;

Senegal, “Félicité,” Alain Gomis, director;

South Africa, “The Wound,” John Trengove, director;

Sweden, “The Square,” Ruben Östlund, director.

The Phase I committee, consisting of Los Angeles-based Academy members, screened the original submissions in the category between mid-October and December 11.  The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist, the official website release said.