The Philippines has chosen 24-year-old filmmaker Mikhail Red's Birdshot as its contender for consideration in the best foreign-language film category at the 2018 Oscars.

Equal parts coming-of-age drama and thriller, the film follows the story of young girl who accidentally shoots an endangered Philippine eagle. The film premiered last year at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where it won best film in the Asian Future section. It was later selected for the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award at the Goteborg Film Festival.

The Film Academy of the Philippines' official Oscar selection committee announced its choice Tuesday. The organization said its vote was initially a tie between Birdshot and Baby Ruth Villarama's Sunday Beauty Queen, a documentary about expatriate Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong. The group's chairman, Jose N. Carreon, then cast the tie-breaking vote, tipping the balance toward Birdshot.