The indie drama, which stars Vincent Perez and Raoul Trujillo, had a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.


Canada has chosen director Francois Girard's Hochelaga, Land of Souls as its contender for consideration in the best foreign-language film Oscar category.

The Canadian French-language drama, which stars Samian, Vincent Perez and Raoul Trujillo, portrays Canadian history through the finds at a fictional Montreal archaeological dig.

Girard, one of Canada's most accomplished filmmakers, has tackled histories and epic narratives before in Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, The Red Violin and Silk.

Canada's national Oscar selection committee, led by Telefilm Canada, unveiled its pick Monday at a press conference in Montreal.

Canada in recent years has had nominations in the best foreign-language film Oscar category for Denis Villeneuve's Incendies, Philippe Falardeau's Monsieur Lazhar and Kim Nguyen's Rebelle, as well as another nomination for Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness, a Poland-Germany-Canada co-production.

Deny Arcand's 2003 indie drama The Barbarians Invasions is the last Canadian feature to have won the foreign-language film Oscar.

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