August 7, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  John Pavlik - (310) 247-3000

Beverly Hills, CA - Seventy-eight countries have been invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to submit their top films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 74th Annual Academy Awards^®.

Entry forms must be received at the Academy by Thursday, November 1, 2001, and films must be received by Thursday, November 15.

To be eligible for consideration for the 2001 Award, a film must have had its first public showing for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial theater in its home country between November 1, 2000, and October 31, 2001, and must have been produced with a predominantly non-English dialogue track in a language of the submitting country.

Nominations will be announced at the Academy on Tuesday, February 12, 2002.

Over the years, 88 countries have submitted films to the competition at least once.

Requests for information about the Foreign Language Film Award may be made by telephone to Awards Coordinator Patrick Stockstill at the Academy: 310-247-3000; by fax: 310-247-2600; or by email: pstockstill@oscars.org.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2001 will be presented on Sunday, March 24, 2002, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland^TM. The Oscars will be televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. (PST) with a half-hour network arrivals segment preceding the 5:30 p.m. presentation ceremony.