Canada's 'Incendies' nominated for Best Foreign Language Film

Canadian film director Denis Villeneuve must be one happy guy this morning. His latest film, Incendies, has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The Quebecer, who directed Polytechnique and Maelstrom, was honored by the Toronto Film Critics with its Best Canadian Film award for 2010. It was also included in the Toronto International Film Festival's Canada's Top Ten. Here's what Teri Hart of the TIFF panel had to say about the film:

Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad’s award winning play shows the horror of civil war and the desperation of a mother to have her children understand the past so they can have a future. Grounded by a remarkable lead performance by Lubna Azabal, Villeneuve skillfully moves between the present day search for truth and the history that brought us to this point. Incendies proves that Villeneuve is one of this country’s most compassionate filmmakers.

The film is up against four other movies: Outside the Law, Algeria; In a Better World, Denmark; Dogtooth, Greece; and Biutiful from Mexico.

The last time Canada took home an Oscar was in 2003 for Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions. In 2006, Deepa Metha was nominated for Water.

The film is in French and Arabic, with English subtitles. Watch the trailer here with subtitles.

The 83rd Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway will co-host the annual awards show, which will be broadcast on ABC.