Pakistan’s official entry in the International Feature Film Award category at the 93rd Academy Awards Zindagi Tamasha is out of the Oscars race. The film is not part of the list of 15 international feature films announced Tuesday that “will move on to the official phase one voting, which will take place on March 5-9.”
According to a report published in Variety Magazine, “Fifteen films will advance to the next round of voting in the International Feature Film category. Films from 93 countries were eligible in the category, the most in Oscars history. Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.”
“In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote,” stated the report.
The nominates for the Oscars will be announced on March 15 while the award ceremony will be held on April 25.
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The Pakistani Academy Selection Committee had selected Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha as Pakistan’s official entry to the Oscars in November 2020.
Directed and co-produced by Khoosat and written by Nirmal Bano, Zindagi Tamasha features Arif Hassan, Eman Suleman, Samiya Mumtaz and Ali Kureshi in the lead roles. The film is centred around a naat khwan Rahat Khawaja (played by Hassan) and his family who are outcast from the society when a video of Khawaja enjoying a song is leaked.
The official synopsis states: “The film is an intimate portrait of a family as well as a scorching political commentary on little gods on this earth who police our private passions.”
Meanwhile, Zindagi Tamasha has not yet hit cinemas in Pakistan. It was initially scheduled to hit screens on January 25, 2020, but immense backlash from religious circles forced the federal and provincial government to halt its release. However, in July 2020, the Senate HR committee cleared the film and allowed it to be screened post-COVID-19.
