‘Moment of pride’
HINA Khan said it was an achievement that the film, Country of Blind, in which she played the lead, would be featured in the list of films accepted for voting by the Academy for Oscars 2024.
Country of Blind is one of three Indian films in contention for the Oscars nominations. The others are the Malayalam film, 2018, featuring Tovino Thomas, and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail with Vikrant Massey playing the principal character.
As many as 265 feature films, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, are included in the list, which is topped by celebrated films such as Oppenheimer, Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon, all of which have won big at the recent Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards.
Khan said: “To be featured on the same list as Oppenheimer and Barbie is a huge achievement for our film, Country of Blind. This is a moment of pride for the entire team.”
Inclusion in the list of submissions, though, does not mean that a film has qualified even for the long-lists.
But Khan is pleased. “Everybody is very happy as a lot of hard work was put into making this film into the best product that we could.”
Director Rahhat Kazmi said: “To be representing India along with Hollywood’s legendary films gives us an even bigger boost. The team is ecstatic.”
Country of Blind is about a mountaineer who falls 305m off a cliff and lands in a valley that is inhabited only by blind people.
The film’s cast includes Shoaib Nikash Shah, Anushka Sen, Namita Lal, Pradyuman Singh Mall, Inamulhaq and Jitendra Rai.
It was released in the US across 13 theatres in October last year.
The Academy Awards are scheduled for March 11.