Oscars: Drug-Trade Drama ‘Birds Of Passage’ Set As Colombia’s Foreign-Language Entry

Birds of Passage, a sprawling epic about the erosion of tradition in pursuit of material wealth, has been selected as Colombia’s official entry for the Foreign Language Film Oscar race, distributor The Orchard said today.

The film is directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra — the respective producer and director of 2015’s Embrace of the Serpent, the first Colombian film ever to be nominated for an Oscar. Birds of Passage premiered as the opening-night selection of the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in May.

Tracing the origins of the Colombian drug trade as it slowly corrupts a native Wayúu family, Birds of Passage stars Jose Acosta, Carmiña Martínez and Natalia Reyes (the upcoming Terminator reboot). The film will screen at the Toronto Film Festival is set for release by The Orchard on Wednesday, February 13th in New York and Los Angeles, with a national rollout to follow.

“We are incredibly humbled and honored to again be the Colombian selection for entry to the Academy Awards, especially with a film that is so personal to our country’s history and narrative,” said Gallego and Guerra. “We are very grateful to La Academia Colombiana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, which has supported us throughout our careers. It is with great pride that we bring this film to a global audience.”

Here’s the list of 2019 foreign-language entries to date:

• Belarus – Crystal Swan – Darya Zhuk
• Belgium – Girl – Lukas Dhont
• Colombia– Birds of Passage, Cristina Gallego & Ciro Guerra
• Estonia – Take It Or Leave It – Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo
• Japan – Shoplifters – Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Romania – I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians – Radu Jude
• Slovakia – The Interpreter – Martin Sulik
• Switzerland – Eldorado – Markus Imhoof
• Turkey – The Wild Pear Tree – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
• UK – I Am Not A Witch – Rungano Nyoni