Deepa Mehta's Water has been selected as Canada's entry for the foreign-languageOscar at the 79th Academy Awards.

Starring H.T.J. Sarala, LisaRay, John Abraham and Seema Biswas and produced by David Hamilton, the film wasdistributed in the US by Fox Searchlight Pictures and in Canada by MongrelMedia. Celluloid Dreams was the international sales agent.

The Opening Night film atthe 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, it went on to become the all-timehighest grossing Hindi-language film in North American history.

Over the history of theAcademy Awards, Canadian titles have been short-listed three times in thecategory, each time through a film by Denys Arcand. Le Declin De l'EmpireAmericain (The Decline of the American Empire) in 1986, Jesus De Montreal (Jesus Of Montreal) in 1989 and LesInvasions Barbares (The Barbarian Invasions) in 2004, which delivered thenation's first-ever win.

Overseen by Telefilm Canada, the nationwide selection committee of 25delegates selected the film from nine eligible films submitted by producers.