A FILM starring a Monmouthshire actor has been selected as Cambodia's official submission as Best Foreign Language Film at next year's Oscars.

Ian Virgo, 35, of Caldicot, stars as nightclub owner Sonny in 'Before the Fall', a thriller set in the country's capital Phnom Penh in 1975.

Mr Virgo, a former Caldicot Comprehensive pupil, joined the crew weeks into filming and admitted getting along 'like a house on fire' with director Ian White.

"It must have been bizarre for them having to act with someone who arrived all of a sudden, especially with my character being a little crazy," said Mr Virgo.

"But I had a lot of fun filming it and we were all excited when we heard the news about the film getting submitted. I had to email the producer back to make sure that it wasn't the Cambodia Academy Awards."

Mr Virgo's character competes with French photographer Luc (played by Nicolas Berthery) for the affection of a beautiful nightclub singer Liya (Pauline Cammal), who ultimately wants to escape the country.

The film, which is Cambodia's fourth submission to the 89th Academy Awards, will be shown to judges prior to the ceremony in February where a shortlist of nine finalists will be announced.

It was also shown at Cannes Film Festival after its release, an impressive feat for a country 'still developing its film industry' according to Mr Virgo.

The actor was born in Los Angeles before moving to Wales at the age of six and got his breakthrough in the Oscar-winning war film Black Hawk Down.

He added: "It's always a nice thing to say that you were part of something like that as it really stands out in the industry."

Having recently filmed several projects in Wales, including the FX series 'The Bastard Executioner', Mr Virgo believes that the national film scene is 'buzzing'.

He said: "People are beginning to see the beauty of the place and are considering it as locations instead of places like Romania and Bulgaria.

"The best thing as well is that we now have amazing local crews down here getting the work.

"I had to move out of Wales to London and Los Angeles for work but now I can go home for work which is great."