LOS ANGELES: Malaysian costliest-ever movie movie 'Puteri Gunung Ledang' is among entries from 49 nations picked to compete for next year's best foreign language film Oscar, marking the country's first-ever Academy Award bid.

Organisers of cinema's top awards announced on Thursday that director Saw Teong Hin's tragic romance had been accepted to compete for a nomination.

The five nominees in the coveted category will be announced in Beverly Hills on Jan 25, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences said.

Among the 49 countries battling it out are Afghanistan, Brazil, last year's winner Canada, China, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Palestine, the Philippines, South Korea Taiwan, Thailand and Venezuela.

The official entries for the 77th Academy Awards were picked from among submissions from 89 nations that were asked to put in films for consideration as best foreign language film.

Malaysia is the only country on this year's list of entrants never to have vied for the famed golden Oscar statuette, which will be handed out in Hollywood on Feb 27.

Puteri Gunung Ledang (Princess of Mount Ledang) is the tragic love story of a princess and a Malay warrior and was well received at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year.

The other contenders

Afghanistan's entry is director Atiq Rahimi's film 'Earth and Ashes', a wrenching drama about life during the country's intractable civil war.

China's 'House of Flying Daggers', from director Zhang Yimou, will represent the world's most populous nation at the Oscars.

The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film festival, is a highly-acclaimed martial arts epic that follows Zhang's film 'The Hero', which has been a major hit in the United States this year.

'Nobody Knows', from filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda was selected as Japan's entry and is the moving story of four children who are forced to rely on one another after they are abandoned by their mother.

Spain's entry, Alejandro Amenabar's 'Mar Adentro' (Out to Sea), about a paralysed man who wants to commit suicide, won the jury grand prize Silver Lion award at the Venice film festival.

France's submission, 'Les Choristes' by Christophe Barratier, tells the story of a group of reform schoolboys having their lives in post-war France changed by a choir-master and was a major hit in its home country.

'Le Chiave di Casa' (The House Keys) by director Gianni Amelio is Italy's hopeful for the best foreign language film gong, telling of a young father, meeting his 15-year-old handicapped son Paolo for the first time.

India's official entry is Sandeep Sawant's low-budget 'Shwaas', which cost just US$76,500 to make, and was picked to compete after beating out big budget Bollywood films.

Six movies in the past have won both the best foreign language film Oscar and another Academy Award, including the 2000 Chinese-language film 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', which won four Oscars.

Italy's 'Life Is Beautiful', also won the best actor Oscar for its star Roberto Benigni and the Oscar for best original score, in 1998.