In this image released by Sony Pictures Classics, Aleksey Serebryakov appears in a scene from the film, “Leviathan.” AP
LONDON — Five movies that tackle the cruelties of existence with humanity and humor are finalists for the Academy Award for best foreign-language film.
The finalists announced Thursday include director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Leviathan,” a tragic parable of small-town Russian corruption; Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Ida,” in which an aspiring Polish nun confronts dark truths about her family and her country; and “Tangerines,” an Estonian-Georgian film by Zaza Urushadze set in post-Soviet Georgia of the early 1990s.
The other contenders are Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako’s “Timbuktu,” a powerful film about the takeover of northern Mali by Islamic militants, and Argentine filmmaker Damian Szifron’s explosive comic romp “Wild Tales.”
The winners of the 87th Academy Awards will be announced at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on Feb. 22.