The film Timbuktu puts Africa on the map at the Oscars

Paris -The Oscar nomination for Mauritanian film
Timbuktu, about daily life in the Islamist-occupied
city, is a "great sign for Mauritania and Africa", the
film's director said on Thursday.
The film made history earlier in the day, when all the
Academy Award nominees were announced, by
becoming the first Mauritanian film to be nominated in
the best foreign film category.
"As soon as I heard about the nomination, I was
overwhelmed by an indescribable feeling," the film's
director Abderrahmane Sissako said in a statement
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"It is recognition of work done with the passion and
commitment of women and men from different
countries, united to defend universal values of love,
peace and justice."
Sissako said he was "very touched" that the Academy
had given Timbuktu a chance at winning one of the
highest awards in world cinema."
The Franco-Mauritanian film has been nominated
alongside Russian film Leviathan directed by Andrei
Zviaguintsev, a Golden Globe award winner in the same
category.
Other contenders include Polish film Ida from director
Pawel Pawlikowski and the Argentinian director Damian
Szifron's dark comedy Wild Tales.
Courtesy: news24
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