Canada Oscar entry is 'Lazhar'

MONTREAL -- Quebec writer-director Philippe Falardeau's "Monsieur Lazhar" is Canada's submission to the Oscars for the foreign-language film category.Federal funding agency Telefilm Canada made the announcement Wednesday.The French-language film tells the story of an Algerian refugee in Montreal who takes over as substitute teacher of a sixth grade class after the original teacher dies. "Monsieur Lazhar" won the city of Toronto award for best Canadian feature at the Toronto Film Festival on Sunday plus the Variety Piazza Grande award and the UBS audience award at Locarno in August.Falardeau's previous films include "C'est pas moi, je le jure" (2009), "Congorama" (2006) and "La moitie gauche du Frigo" (2000).The deadline for all countries to send in their submissions is Oct. 1. The 84th Academy Awards will be held Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

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