MUMBAI: Aamir Khan’s directorial debut Taare Zammen Par, which was India’s official entry to the Oscars, is out of the race. The movie was unable to make it beyond the initial round of screening of nominees for the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
A total of 65 films were short listed in this category, of which nine have qualified to proceed to the next round of voting in the category.
These are:
Austria: Revanche directed by Gotz Spielmann
Canada: The Necessities of Life directed by Benoit Pilon
France: The Class directed by Laurent Cantet
Germany: The Baader Meinhof Complex directed by Uli Edel
Israel: Waltz with Bashir directed by Ari Folman
Japan: Departures directed by Yojiro Takita
Mexico: Tear This Heart Out directed by Roberto Sneider
Sweden: Everlasting Moments directed by Jan Troell
Turkey: 3 Monkeys directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Incidentally Israel’s Waltz with Bashir, recently won the Golden Globe for Best foreign language film.
The final five were chosen by the Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members. 65 eligible films were screened between mid-October and January 10, that 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 2008 nominees by specially selected committees in New York and Los Angeles. The committee members will spend this Friday, Saturday and Sunday viewing three of the films each day.
The five nominees will be announced on 22 January, 2009. The 81st Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on 22 February, 2009.
