'Angry'

FireDancer, about an artist who explores the Afghan American community in New York, was finished by Wassel's friends after his death.

Police arrested Mr Powell after finding body parts in his van and Wassel's head in his freezer.

Mr Powell's lawyer said his client was schizophrenic and that he grew angry after Wassel blamed the United States for instigating the 11 September attacks.

FireDancer has already been screened in Kabul's football stadium, where the Taleban once held public executions.

The Oscars jury will view all 54 films and pick five to be nominated for the prize of best foreign language film.

The UK's original entry, the Hindi-language The Warrior, has been dropped after controversy over the language.

An academy spokesperson said they did not allow it because Hindi is not a language indigenous to the UK and the film was not about the Hindu community in the UK, according to trade publication Screen Daily.

The Warrior has been replaced by Welsh film Eldra, the true story of a gypsy girl in the 1930s, which scooped awards at the Film Festival of Wales and Bafta Cymru.

Other entries include Pinocchio, directed and written by and starring Roberto Benigni, the Italian hero of the 1998 Oscars.

Nation dispute

Brazil's City of God and Sweden's Lilya-4 Ever are also among the favourites.

But Hong Kong film The Touch, produced by and starring Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Michelle Yeoh, has been ruled ineligible because most of the dialogue was in English and not Mandarin.

As well as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Chad will also have films considered for the first time.