Italy chooses 'Dogman' for 91st Oscars

Washington D.C. [USA], Sep 26 (ANI): Italy has officially selected 'Dogman' as its entry for the 'foreign language film' category of the 91st Oscars.
Directed by Matteo Garrone, it is a modern-day fairy tale set in the Camorrah-ridden Castel Volturno outside Naples. The film revolves around a friendly dog groomer, played by Marcello Fonte, who goes to hell and back after being lured into crime by village terror Simone, essayed by Edoardo Pesce, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
The main lead, Fonte, received the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. The film also won Italy's Silver Ribbon awards including best picture, best director, best producer, best set design, best sound, best editing, best casting and best leading actors for Fonte and Pesce.
The film was chosen from a long list of about 21 submissions, beating out many movies like Alice Rohrwacher's 'Happy as Lazzaro', Paolo Genovese's 'The Place', and Alessio Cremonini's 'On My Skin'.
However, the local critics have shown concern that Academy voters may be biased against the violence portrayed in 'Dogman' after failing to nominate Garrone's 2008 film titled 'Gomorrah', which had won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes.
In 2017, Italy submitted Gianfranco Rosi's 'Fire at Sea', which eventually earned a best documentary nomination.
Paolo Sorrentino's 'The Great Beauty' won the Oscar for best foreign language film for Italy in 2014.
Italy holds a record for the most foreign-language film awards with 14 wins.(ANI)