India\u2019s official entry \u2018Liar\u2019s Dice\u2019 is out of Oscars\u2019 race after it failed to make the cut in the Academy\u2019s shortlist in the best foreign film category.\nNine films advanced to the next round of voting in the category for the 87th Academy Awards out of 83 movies that had qualified in the category.
\n\u2018Liar\u2019s Dice\u2019, a road drama about a tribal woman\u2019s journey to find her missing husband, is the debut film of Geetu Mohandas. It stars Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles.
\nThe shortlist will be winnowed down to five by specially invited committees in New York, Los Angeles and, for the first time, London from January 9-11, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.
\nIndia has never won an Oscar in the best foreign film category. The last Indian film that made it to the final five nominees was Ashutosh Gowariker\u2019s \u2018Lagaan\u2019 for the 74th Academy awards in 2003.
\n\u2018Mother India\u2019 and \u2018Salaam Bombay\u2019 are the other two Indian films to have made it to the top five.
\nThe 87th Academy awards will take place on February 22.
\nThe films that have made it to the shortlist this year include \u2018Wild Tales\u2019, an Argentinean film by director Damian Szifron.
\nOne of the strongest contenders is the entry from Estonia, \u2018Tangerines\u2019, a film on civil war within the former Soviet countries, is in the list along with Georgia\u2019s entry \u2018Corn Island\u2019 by George Ovashvili.
\nSweden\u2019s entry \u2018Force Majeure\u2019 by Ruben Ostlund is in the list so is Netherlands\u2019 \u2018Accused\u2019, based on a true story of Lucia de Berk, which generated a lot of buzz at many international festivals.
\nMauritania\u2019s \u2018Timbuktu\u2019 and the quintessential Russian tragedy \u2018Leviatha\u2019 by Andrey Zvyagintsev are also in the shortlist.
\nPawel Pawlikowski\u2019s black-and-white Polish drama \u2018Ida\u2019, which won the Best European Film prize at the European Film Awards in Riga, is in the list while the Academy selected \u2018The Liberator\u2019 from Venezuela by Alberto Arvelo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"