“L’Âge des ténèbres,” the latest film from Quebec director Denys Arcand, is one of nine films left in the running to win the Oscar for best foreign-language film.

The film, which translates to “Days of Darkness” in English, tells the story of a civil servant (Marc Labrèche) who copes with the dullness of everyday life by inventing vivid fantasy worlds.

The movie is part of an trilogy of films directed by Arcand — the other two being “Decline of the American Empire” (1986) and Oscar winner “The Barbarian Invasions” (2003).

Arcand has said “Days of Darkness” is the lightest and most humorous of the three.

Selected as Canada’s entry to the Academy Awards, the movie is now one step closer to nomination after the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released a list Tuesday of the remaining nine films in contention, whittled down from an initial list of 63.

The Academy will reveal its five official nominees on Jan. 22.

Besides Canada, the remaining films are from Austria, Brazil, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia and Serbia.






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