Mexico has chosen "Heli" as the country's foreign film submission for the Academy Awards.

After having a 16-movie shortlist the country decided on the Cannes winner on Wednesday. The film opened at the Cannes Film Festival in May and proved divisive for its portrayal of drug violence. The film beat out Eugenio Derbez's "Instructions Not Included," which the Mexican audience was rooting for and which became one of the most successful foreign films to ever be released in the U.S. Additionally, it was heavily believed that Derbez's popularity and celebrity in Mexico would help the film's chances at being the Academy submission. However, Mexico followed its current trend of picking socially relevant films.