The award-winning About Elly has been selected to represent Iran in the foreign category nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards.

Asghar Farhadi's film was selected by an Iranian committee composed of Kamal Tabrizi, Iraj Taqipour, Mohammad Davoudi, Morteza Razzaq-Karimi, Seyyed Jamal Sadatian, Kianoush Ayyari, Ali Moallem and Amir Esfandiari.

Farhadi's latest production was one of the four shortlisted candidates chosen from the 11 films initially presented.

Hamid Nematollah's Penniless, Abdolreza Kahani's Twenty and Varuzh Karim-Masihi's Doubt were the other candidates.

About Elly which highlights the relations between Iranian men and women and presents a dramatic depiction of love, won the Silver Bear award of the 59th International Berlin Film Festival and the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature of the 8th Tribeca Film Festival in the US.

The two-hour drama has been distributed by Memento Films Company in France from September 9, 2009, as one of the few Iranian films to be extensively screened in the European country.

Iran has submitted 15 films for Oscar consideration since 1994. Majid Majidi's Children of Heaven received an Oscar nomination in 1997.

TE/HGH