Brazil has selected Kleber Mendonca Filho’s Neighboring Sounds (O som ao redor) as its submission in the foreign-language race for the Academy Awards.
Written and directed by Filho, his debut pic unspooled in the Rio Intl. Film Festival last year, when it won the the feature and script Redentor kudos.
http://variety.com/2012/film/reviews/neighboring-sounds-1117947011/
A former film critic, Filho is seen as the leading figure of the promising new generation of indie auteurs from the northeaster Brazilian state of Pernambuco. The Portuguese-lingo pic centers around community in Recife, Pernambuco’s capital, where a private security firm imposes new rules.
The film won the Fipresci award at Rotterdam, Gramado and Oslo Films of the South festivals.
The deadline for submitting to the foreign-language category is October 1. Nominations will be announced January 10, 2014.