Last September Sony Pictures Classics picked up the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion winner Lebanon, and has since set an August 13 release date for the film described as an unrelenting look at war from inside a military tank based on writer/director Samuel Maoz’s own experiences as a young soldier during his government’s ill-fated decision to invade Lebanon in 1982.
When Sony Classics picked the film up last year I assumed it was in an attempt to score a foreign language nom, but Israel submitted Ajami as their 2009 submission and it went on to earn a nomination in the category. However, I am curious to see how the rules in the Foreign Language category play out this year as IMDb lists Lebanon as being released on limited screens in Israel on September 24, 2009, which means it wouldn’t be eligible for this year’s Oscar competition, but if they look at the film’s wide release on October 15, 2009 then it would make the date.
Who knows what will happen, it doesn’t really matter as we already know SPC will be releasing it this year and today we have the first subtitled trailer for the film I know of. Check it out below, and for more on the film, including a handful of stills, click here.
