Sweden selects Levan Akin's 'And Then We Danced' as Oscars submission

Filmmaker Levan Akin's Swedish-Georgian-French co-production And Then We Danced has been picked as Sweden's submission for the Best International Feature Film competition at the next Academy Awards.

The work, which this week earned the filmmaker the Best Film Award at the Carl International Film Festival in Sweden, will be among competing features considered for the prize at the next edition of the Oscars in February 2020.

Bringing a personal story of a young dancer in a Georgian national troupe coming across a newcomer and developing an intense attraction to them, the film debuted at the Directors’ Fortnight festival in Cannes in May.

Its storyline, the protagonist Merab is "thrown into an emotional storm of both strong desire and jealousy for his new companion" (Carl International Film Festival), with the encounter between the two male performers unfolding in the conservative dance company.

Actor Levan Gelbakhiani was singled out for his portrayal of Merab with the Best Actor Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival, with Bachi Valishvili cast in the role of Irakli, the newcoming dancer.

Beside the Carl Film Festival prize, the feature and Gelbakhiani also took home principal awards at the Odesa International film Festival in Ukraine.

The next Academy Awards ceremony will be held on February 9.