"In a Better World' from Denmark wins best foreign film

Danish hard-hitting drama about the lives of two struggling families wins best foreign language Oscar.

Danish film "In a Better World," a hard-hitting drama about the lives of two struggling families, won the best foreign language film Oscar on Sunday.

"In a Better World" was helmed by Denmark's star director Susanne Bier, who returned to her home turf after making the US-based "Things We Lost in the Fire" with Halle Berry in 2007.

The Danish-language drama beat out "Dogtooth" from Greece, "Incendies" from Canada, "Biutiful" from Mexico, and "Outside the Law" from Algeria.

The movie tells the story of a doctor who travels between his quiet home life in an idyllic village in Denmark -- where his marriage is collapsing -- and a chaotic refugee camp in Africa.

His 10-year-old son Elias is meanwhile getting bullied at school but strikes up a friendship with another boy, Christian, and the pair plunge into a violent circle of vengeance.

Also called "Revenge," the translation of its Danish title, the film has attracted over 400,000 moviegoers in Denmark and has been distributed in more than 50 countries.

Bier also directed the 2006 drama "After the Wedding," which was nominated for best foreign language film.

The movie, the first from Denmark to win the Oscar for best foreign language film since "Pelle the Conqueror" in 1988, won the same award at last month's Golden Globes.

According to Frederikke Lett, Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten's movie critic, the film is a "masterpiece" in which Bier manages to "describe and show the feelings that touch us directly at the heart."

Bier's "The Things We Lost in the Fire," starring Berry and Benicio del Toro also received rave reviews.

Last year "El Secreto de Sus Ojos" landed Argentina its first foreign language Oscar statuette in 25 years.