Malayalam film ‘2018’ is India’s entry to Oscars 2024: How was it picked?

It’s a big moment for Malayalam cinema. The movie, 2018, which depicts the devastation Kerala floods, is India’s official entry to the Oscars in 2024. The members of The Film Federation of India picked the survival drama 2018 (also known as 2018: Everyone is a Hero) for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 96th Academy Awards, which will be held on 10 March 2024. _2018_, which premiered in May, is directed by Jude Anthany Joseph and boasts a star cast of Tovino Thomas, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Narain, and Lal. It’s a survival tale of the people of Kerala who faced calamitous floods in the year 2018. The movie is the highest-grosser ever in the Malayalam industry and one of the top earners in Indian cinema this year. It earned more than Rs 200 crore at the box office. India makes thousands of films every year in more than 20 languages. How then is a movie selected for cinema’s biggest award function? How does India pick a film for the Oscars? Each year, India selects a movie for the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars. This category was not among the 12 categories announced when the Awards were first held in 1929. It was in 1956 that the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film was awarded for the first time. (It went to Federico Fellini’s La Strada.) Since then, with minor changes, this category has been a staple of the ceremony. It is now called the Best International Feature Film category. India’s entry to the Oscars is picked by a 17-member jury of diverse voices from the film industry, who are part of the Film Federation of India (FFI). This collective is the controlling body of all the film associations in the country. The members from various crafts related to filmmaking and representing various regions of the country choose one film from a list of about 25-30 films sent by their respective trade bodies. Not too much information is divulged about the selection process, but Supran Sen, secretary general, FFI has been quoted as saying, “Rules state that the film should be Indian, second – it should reflect the culture of the country, and third – the language should be dominantly spoken in the country. ” According to the FFI website, for a movie to qualify for selection, it should be more than 40 minutes long. It film must be first released in India no earlier than 1 January 2023 and no later than 30 November 2023. [caption id=“attachment_13177102” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The movie tells the tale of survival during devastating floods in Kerala[/caption] Which other Indian films were in the race this year? _2018_ had to compete with 20 other movies, which were screened in front of a 16-member selection committee led by director Girish Kasaravalli. _The Kerala Story_ (Hindi), Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, _Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway_ (Hindi), Balagam (Telugu), Vaalvi (Marathi), Baaplyok (Marathi) and August 16, 1947 (Tamil) were in the race. The movie 2018 was picked up for its relevant theme on climate change and the travails of people and the flawed concept of development understood by the society, said Kasarvalli, chairman of the selection committee for the movie, reported news agency PTI.

😍🤩🙏🏼❤️ #2018Movie - India’s Official entry to Oscars! pic.twitter.com/WTnBfWRhPv

— Tovino Thomas (@ttovino) September 27, 2023

What happens after India makes it pick? Once India sends its entry, the movie competes with other films from across the country to make it to the final nominations. A “Phase I” committee of members of the Academy watch the movies and vote by secret ballot. A shortlist of 10 films is then announced, consisting of the committee’s top seven movies plus three more added by the Academy’s International Feature Film Award Executive Committee. Then a “Phase II” committee watches and votes on the 10 shortlisted films, to winnow the field to five nominees. Finally, only Academy members who have seen all five nominated films vote on the winner. Has India won in this category? India has been sending a movie each year to the Oscars, barring 2003. However, in all these years only three movies have been shortlisted in the category – Mother India (1958), Salmaan Bombay (1989) and _Lagaan (_2002). None have won the award. [caption id=“attachment_13177112” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] No Indian movie has received an Oscar nomination in the Best International Feature Film category since ‘Lagaan’ in 2002. Actor Aamir Khan and his former wife Reena, director Ashutosh Gowariker and his wife Sunita at the red carpet of the Academy Awards. Image courtesy: @sunita.gowariker/Instagram[/caption] Most recent selections include Koozhangal (2021), Jallikattu (2020), Gully Boy (2019), and Village Rockstars (2018). Last year’s official Oscar entry, _Chhello Show_, did not secure a nomination. Titled Last Film Show in English, it is a Gujarati coming-of-age drama. However, Indian films won two awards last year. “Naatu Naatu” from RRR won the Best Original Song and The Elephant Whisperers bagged the Best Documentary Short Subject award. With inputs from agencies