Wolf Totem to Be Submitted for Oscar Consideration

Though yet to be made official, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s film Wolf Totem is expected to be China’s submission for this year’s foreign-language category at the Academy Awards.

Originally released last February during the Chinese New Year, the film is based on the novel by Lu Jiamin, telling the story of a young student exploring Mongolia in the late 60s. It is here where this young man experiences the unique bond between local herdsmen and the wolves that roam these steppe regions.

The Chinese-French coproduction enlisted the help of director Jean-Jacques Annaud for his experience working with animals on film. You may have seen his 1988 live action film The Bear, where an orphaned grizzly eludes a bunch of hunters and trips on mushrooms in turn of the century British Columbia. Annaud is probably best known for his film Seven Years in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt, which until recently had him on a list of banned directors. Apparently Peter Jackson was originally approached, but passed on the project. 

For the film, they acquired a dozen wolf pups from a zoo in Harbin and trained them for several year prior to production. So far the film has grossed over USD 122 million in both China and France, and will be released stateside on September 11.

Email: danielkippwhittaker@thebeijinger.com

Photo: i.ytimg.com