FILM/SNEAK PEEK : FOREIGN ENTRANTS SHARE A CANNES-DO ATTITUDE.

Byline: - Bob McCarthy

The winner and runner-up at this year's Cannes Film Festival and a first-ever entry from Kyrgyzstan are among the record-tying number of foreign language films in the running for 1999 Academy Awards.

Lebanon and Morocco also sent entries in the Best Foreign Language Film competition for the first time in 20 years. Under academy rules, each country is invited to submit one film per year, usually chosen by a national committee. This year's response from 45 nations ties the record set in 1994, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Noteworthy are ``Eternity and a Day'' by the mercurial Greek director Theo Angelopoulos, who took top prize at this year's Cannes festival in France, and the runner-up, ``Life Is Beautiful,'' by Italian director Roberto Benigni. Foremost Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov, who won the 1994 Foreign Language Film Oscar for ``Burnt by the Sun,'' is entered again with ``Barber of Siberia.''

While the Oscar race is news, some of the films won't be to L.A. audiences. ``Life Is Beautiful'' and ``The Celebration'' by Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg already have opened here. Spanish director Carlos Saura's entry for Argentina, ``Tango,'' and the Brazilian-made ``Central Station'' by Walter Salles are due to open.

The Foreign Language Film committee begins screening entries next month to select five for Oscar consideration. Nominations will be announced Feb. 9, and Oscars will be presented March 21 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Israel's own

The annual Israel Film Festival opens Thursday with the U.S. premiere of ``Circus Palestine,'' an Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film.

More than 35 productions, ranging from feature films to television miniseries, will be making their U.S. debuts. ``Circus Palestine'' won five Israeli Academy Awards this year for screenplay, score, actor, supporting actor and outstanding picture. Last year's winner of six Academy Awards in Israel, ``Afula Express (Pick a Card)'' also will be screened.

The festival opens with a gala event at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, and the presentation of a lifetime achievement award to Lia van Leer for her preservation efforts for the cinematic arts in Israel.

The exhibition runs through Dec. 17 at Laemmle's Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills.

Cutting a good image

Eriq La Salle plays a doctor who saves lives on the NBC drama ``ER,'' but the way he operates away from television's No. 1-rated show is impressive, too.

The Short Pictures International Film Festival honored La Salle at its opening Saturday night in Hollywood with its first-ever Outstanding Role Model award. Organizers cited his achievements as an actor, director and producer in announcing his selection.

La Salle recounted how losing a movie role redirected his ambitions from acting to directing for film. Since then, he's directed and starred in the short film ``Psalms From the Underground'' and directed the HBO film ``Rebound.''

``There is an angst and challenge in filmmaking, but there is joy, too, that the films we make will reach our youth and challenge and inspire them,'' La Salle said in receiving the award. ``I'm striving to get there ... but I thank you for inspiring me tonight.''

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Photo

Photo: The annual Israel Film Festival opens with the U.S. premiere of ``Circus Palestine,'' with Yevgenia Dodina and Yoram Chatav.