Paul Verhoeven's Dutch underground thriller, Zwartboek / Black Book, has been chosen as the Netherlands' submission for the 2006 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. Set in the fall of 1944, Zwartboek portrays the relationship between a young Jewish woman (Carice van Houten) and a high-ranking Gestapo officer (Sebastian Koch) while she seeks revenge for the murder of her family. Inspired by real events, the screenplay was written by Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman.
South Korea has also selected its Academy Award submission: Wang-ui namja / King and the Clown, the story of a 16th-century male clown (Lee Jun-gi) caught between the affections of a despotic king (Jin-yeong Jeong) and a fellow performer (Kam Woo-seong), while arousing the jealousy of the king's consort (Gang Seong-yeon). Directed by Jun-ik Lee, and written by Seok-Hwan Choi (from Tae-woong Kim's play), King and the Clown was a phenomenal box-office hit in its native country, becoming South Korea's second film in all-time ticket sales.