Poster of Jia Zhangke's film Mountains may depart. [Photo/Mtime]

Chinese director Jia Zhangke has revealed that his latest film Mountains may depart is to be submitted for this year's foreign-language category at the Academy Awards.

The movie tells the story of a family that moves from China to Australia, highlighting their romantic trysts, hopes and the disillusionment felt over two generations in a society changing at breakneck speed.

The film unfolds predominately in the director's own hometown of Fenyang in North China's Shanxi province, beginning in 1999 and spanning all the way to a future date, set somewhere in 2025.

The English-language film, which screened at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, is scheduled to hit cinemas in the Chinese mainland on October 30.

According to earlier reports, Jean-Jacques Annaud's new film Wolf Totem was also expected to be submitted for the Academy Awards.

The official announcement of China's submission is expected to be made by the end of this month.