Romania Proposes Florin Serban’s "If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle" For 2011 Academy Awards

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The voting commission consisted of film critics Eugenia Voda, Magda Mihailescu, Cristina Corciovescu, Mihai Chirilov, Dana Duma, Dinu Tanase and Eugen Athanasiu, most of whom voted for Serban's film.

"If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle", Serban's first feature, a prison drama about a teenager's desperate bid to escape, was the first Romanian film in 17 years to be selected for the annual Berlinal Film Festival. The film won the runner-up Grand Jury Prize and the Alfred-Bauer award for cinematic innovation in the 60th edition of the Berlinale.

According to the Academy Awards Rules, a foreign language film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track. The motion picture must be first released in the country submitting it no earlier than October 1, 2009, and no later than September 30, 2010, and be first publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theater for the profit of the producer and exhibitor.

In 2009, Romania proposed Corneliu Porumboiu's "Police, adjective" for best film in a foreign language.

Oscar nominees will be announced on January 25, 2011. The 83rd edition of the U.S. Academy Awards will take place on February 27, 2011 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles.