by Scott Roxborough, hollywoodreporter.com

The Danish selection committee unanimously picked Zandvliet's feature over the other two shortlist candidates: Thomas Vinterberg's The Commune and Lisa Ohlin's Walk With Me.

Martin Zandvliet's powerful drama, set just after WWII, follows German prisoners of war put to work defusing land mines along the Danish coast.

Denmark has picked Martin Zandvliet's Land of Mine, a drama that sheds light on a little-known chapter of World War II, as its candidate for the 2017 Oscars in the best foreign-language film category.



The Danish selection committee unanimously picked Zandvliet's feature over the other two shortlist candidates: Thomas Vinterberg's The Commune and Lisa Ohlin's Walk With Me.

Land of Mine is set in May 1945, just after the official end of battle in Europe. The Allied forces use German POWs to do the deadly work of finding and defusing the landmines clogging the Danish coastline. Land of Mine had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last year.

Sony Pictures Classics picked up Land of Mine for the U.S. and will be releasing the film domestically later this year. K5 Media Group is handling international sales.

Tiny Denmark has one of the best records when it comes to the foreign-language Oscars. The country has racked up a total of 11 nominations and three wins, most recently for Susanne Bier's In a Better World in 2010.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce its 2017 shortlist of foreign-language nominees on Jan 17. The final five nominees will be announced Jan. 24. The 2017 Oscars will be held Feb. 26.

Land of Mine / Under sandet
Martin Pieter Zandvliet (DK, 2015)


Synopsis

Taking place in May 1945 only a few days after the end of the war, the film tells the story of how a group of German prisoners of war were brought to Denmark and forced to disarm the two million land mines that had been scattered along the West Coast by the German occupying forces. In charge of the enfeebled young men performing the dangerous task is Sergeant Carl Leopold Rasmussen. Like so many of his fellow Danes, he has a deep hatred for the Germans after having suffered five years of hardships during the occupation. He lets his rage rain down on the prisoners, until one day a tragic incident makes him change his view of the enemy even if it may be too late. (Danish Film Institute)