Quebec filmmaker Benoît Pilon’s period tale of an Inuit hunter who endures massive culture shock when confronted with southern culture is Canada’s official submission to the best foreign-language film category at the upcoming Oscars.

Telefilm Canada, which chairs the Canadian selection committee, says it picked The Necessities of Life (Ce qu’il faut pour vivre) from a list of 16 eligible films. Pilon’s film tells the moving story of an Inuit hunter, Tivii, flown to a Quebec sanatorium to be treated for tuberculosis in the 1950s. Weak, unable to communicate or to understand others, Tivii becomes suicidal. His nurse saves his life by arranging a meeting with a young Inuit boy.

The selection committee is chaired by a non-voting Telefilm representative and comprises 24 voting members representing major film industry associations and government agencies. Telefilm works this way with the industry to help raise the visibility and prestige of domestic productions with Canadian and international audiences.

The nominees for the 81st Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 22, 2009.

Last year, Denys Arcand’s L’âge des ténèbres (Days of Darkness) was chosen by the committee as Canada’s Oscar pick.