BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Quebec filmmaker Philippe Falardeau says he's "honoured and excited and a little bit surprised" that his tale "Monsieur Lazhar" has made Oscar's latest cut in the race for best foreign-language film.

The francophone dramedy about Montreal elementary students grappling with the death of their teacher is among nine features in the running for a nomination.

"It's becoming a lot more concrete," Falardeau told The Canadian Press on Wednesday, hours after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a list.

"Over the last few months it was a nomination that was theoretical, abstract."

"Now, all of a sudden there are nine of us vying for five spots."

Other films still in the foreign-language Oscar race include Germany's 3-D dance tribute "Pina" and Iran's widely heralded marital drama "A Separation," which won the Golden Globe for best foreign-language film last weekend.

Rounding out the list is Belgium's "Bullhead," Denmark's "SuperclDasico," Israel's "Footnote," Morocco's "Omar Killed Me," Poland's "In Darkness" and Taiwan's "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale."

Oscar nominations come out Tuesday.

Acclaim is not new for Falardeau, but the awards-show roller coaster is.

Before Wednesday's announcement, the writer-director said he was grateful for the international attention but uneasy with the politicking involved in courting an Oscar.

He notes that certain events are unavoidable when promoting a film to Academy members, who cast the all-important ballots that decide who gets a trophy.

"Some of the events around the Oscar nomination I didn't want to go to and my producer said, 'You're going'," Falardeau said in a recent interview, citing the influential Palm Springs International Film Festival as one example.

"I'm not too much into cocktails and I'm not a PR person."

Still, Falardeau says he's doing what producers Luc Dery and Kim McCraw suggest -- they are the same team behind Canada's Oscar hope last year, "Incendies."

Written and directed by fellow Quebec filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, "Incendies" rode a wave of acclaim all the way to the star-studded bash as one of five nominees. It ended up losing to Denmark's "In a Better World."

"They're calling the shots, they have experience, they know what's important or not so I'm following their lead right now," Falardeau said of Dery and McCraw.

"And it'll be fun to live the process with them, whether or not it's positive."

"Incendies" is now in the running for a British Academy Film Award, after scoring a nomination earlier this week in the category for film not in the English language. It's up against "Pina," "A Separation," France's "Potiche" and Spain's "The Skin I Live In."

Sixty-three films had originally qualified in the category.

"Monsieur Lazhar" racked up nine Genie Award nominations this week and previously collected TIFF's $30,000 award for best Canadian feature and the Toronto Film Critics Association's $15,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award.

Last week, Falardeau described the Oscar race as "nerve-wracking" as well as "flattering." He said he would be more than happy if his Oscar run ended with the short list of nine.

On Wednesday, Falardeau admitted he's likely in for a few restless nights while he waits for the nomination announcement.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose a lot of sleep in the next few days."

The Academy Awards take place Feb. 26.