India’s official entry to the Oscars this year, ‘Peepli Live’ is out of the race. Even Aamir Khan’s clout couldn’t save the film from being chucked off the list of movies selected by the voting jury in the Foreign Language Film category for the 83rd Academy Awards.
Sources confirm that that the Aamir Khan-produced film is not in the list of nine movies selected for the next round of voting. Made by debutant director Anusha Rizvi, ‘Peepli Live’, the satirical comedy wowed audiences to become one of 2010`s top five grossers. However, it seems the film couldn’t impress the Academy bosses.
This year, 65 countries, including first-time entrants Ethiopia and Greenland, had submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category. Foreign Language Film nominations for 2010 are again being determined in two phases, said a statement posted on the Oscar Awards’ official website. The phase one committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 66 eligible films between mid-October and Jan 13.
The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist. The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles. They will spend Friday, Jan 21, through Sunday, Jan 23, viewing three films each day and then
casting their ballots.
