Philippines enters ‘Heneral Luna’ in Oscars

MANILA, Philippines - Historical action biopic “Heneral Luna” has been officially selected as the Philippines’ entry to the 88th Academy Awards.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said “Heneral Luna” has completed all the requirements to qualify for the Oscar foreign film category.

“Heneral Luna,” which stars John Arcilla, tells the story of Antonio Luna, a patriotic general who led the Philippine Revolutionary Army during the Philippine-American war.

The film opens with the hostilities between US colonizers and Filipinos and culminates in the brutal assassination of Luna on June 5, 1899 – an era in which Luna served as the supreme chief of the army under the first Philippine republic.

A total of 81 countries have submitted their official entries for the foreign language film Oscar race. Paraguay is the only first timer, with its entry “Cloudy Times” by director Arami Ullon.

Nominations for the 88th Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 14 at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, and the hardware handed out Feb. 29 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

Last year, Polish film “Ida” won the Oscar best foreign language film award. Among the notable entries for the 2016 foreign language Oscar are Spain’s “Flowers,” Sweden’s “A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence,” Poland’s “11 Minutes,” Switzerland’s “Iraqi Odyssey,” Taiwan’s “The Assassin,” Uruguay’s “A Moonless Night,” Afghanistan’s “Utopia,” Canada’s “Felix and Meira,” Czech Republic’s “Home Care,” Colombia’s “Embrace of the Serpent,” China’s “Go Away Mr. Tumor” and Argentina’s “The Clan.”

The Academy picks nominees for the foreign language Oscar from submissions from individual countries, which can only put forward one candidate each year.