The year 2017 hasn’t been a great year for Pakistani cinema, with hardly any films that impressed critics or cinema-goers. While we expect that the coming months will see the release of some better films, it is a point of concern that we don’t have any great film so far to send for Oscar consideration. The Pakistani Academy Selection Committee has invited Pakistani filmmakers to submit their films for Oscar consideration in the ‘Foreign Language Film Award’ category for the 90th Academy Awards. The last date for submission is August 20, 2017.
The committee is chaired by two-time Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and includes Jerjees Seja, Nadeem Mandviwalla, Asim Raza, Momina Duraid, Talat Hussain, Sakina Samo, Rizwan Beyg, Mohammad Hanif and Ali Hamza.
The committee will choose one film as Pakistan’s official submission for the ‘Foreign Language Film Award.’ A foreign language film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.
This year will mark the fourth consecutive submission by the Pakistani Academy Selection Committee for the Oscars. While Zinda Bhaag was submitted in 2013, Dukhtar was sent in 2014, followed by Moor and Mah e Mir in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Let’s wait and watch which film/s make it to the list this year.