Revisiting our Oscar journey

Manpriya Singh 

It’s not the first time.  There was Newton losing out in the big race for Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film last year and Interrogation, a Tamil film, the year before that. But somehow, since September, the nation was banking heavily on the little rockstars from the Assamese village called Chhaygaon. Especially Dhunu, the little girl who by birth, unfortunately, fell on the underprivileged side of the world, but never gave up her dreams - which is forming a rock band and owning an electric guitar someday! 

Apart from the submission checklist and eligibility, not just what transpires on the camera, but off it as well that made for a perfect tale to warm up the Oscar jury. Director Rima Das set out on a shoe-string budget and a hand-held camera to shoot the National Award-winning feature film. Now, Rima has accepted the end of her Oscar journey gracefully, by terming it, “incredible.” 

Those who made it

Of the total 87 films submitted to the jury, those who made it to the shortlist are Birds of Passage (Colombia), The Guilty (Denmark), Never Look Away (Germany), Shoplifters (Japan), Ayka (Kazakhastan), Roma (Mexico), Cold War (Poland), Burning (South Korea) and Capernaum (Lebanon). 

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