Village Rockstars, directed by Rima Das, has been selected as India's official entry for the Foreign Language Film category of the Oscars.
According to reports, jury member Anant Mahadevan said, “Village Rockstars is the closest film made by international standards. Very proud to select this film and send it to the Oscars.”
Raazi, Hichki, Padmaavat, Love Sonia, Mahanati, Tumbbad, Rangasthalam, Manto, October, Kadwi Hawa and Bioscopewala were some of the other films under consideration.
Village Rockstars was judged the Best Feature Film at the 65th National Film Awards earlier this year. Village Rockstars also bagged other awards such as those for best child artist, best location sound recordist, and best editing. The Assamese film is a coming-of-age-story which follows Dhunu, a girl who grows up in poverty and learns to fend for herself. However, that does not prevent her from following her dream of forming a rock band and owning a guitar someday. The film has also been shot, edited and produced by Rima Das.
The film which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival has had a stellar run in the festival circuit. Village Rockstars will release in India on September 28.
Last year, Rajkummar Rao-starrer Newton represented India at the Oscars. It, however, failed to make it to the final list of films in the voting round. So far, only three Indian films have made it till the last round in the foreign language category—Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan (2001).
The 91st Academy Awards is scheduled to be held on February 24, 2019.