India’s official entry to the Oscars 2019 was announced on Saturday. This year, Rima Das’s directorial Village Rockstars, an Assamese movie, has been selected to compete for the Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film category.
On 22 September, an all-India jury constituted by the Film Federation of India (FFI) under the chairmanship of Kannada producer Rajendra Singh Babu made the announcement at a press conference.
“Village Rockstars is the closest film made by international standards. Very proud and to select this film and send it to the Oscars,” said Jury member Anant Mahadevan.
Earlier, the film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2017 under the Discovery Section. Village Rockstars also went on to win in the category of Best Feature film Award at the 65th National Film Awards.
Rima Das took to Twitter to share the news. “With tears of joy and a feeling of pride, I humbly accept this news. #VillageRockstars is India’s official entry for the # Oscars! Let that sink in,” the tweet read.
Set in Das’s own Chhaygaon village in Assam, Village Rockstars is the story of “poor but amazing children” who live a fun-filled life. The story revolves around a 10-year-old girl’s life who dreams of owning a guitar one day and form a rock band.
Village Rockstars won the race against 29 other Indian films including Padmaavat, Hichki, Raazi, October, Manto, 102 Not out, Padman, Love Sonia, Gulabjaam, Mahanati, Pihu, Kadvi Hawa, Bhogda, Revaa, Bioscopewala, Bhayanakam, Ajji, Nude and Gali Guleiyan.
The film is slated to release on 28 September 2018.
The 91st Academy Awards will be held on February 24, 2019.