Pakistan has sent only two films to the Academy Awards since the foreign language category was created
Islamabad:
Pakistan will submit an entry forthe foreign language film category of the Oscar awards after agap of five decades though a committee has not yet chosen themovie.
Chairing the committee is Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, whobecame Pakistan's first Oscar winner for co-directing the 2011documentary Saving Face, which was about the survivors ofacid attacks.
Other members of the panel are writer Mohsin Hamid (TheReluctant Fundamentalist), director Mehreen Jabbar (RamchandPakistani), actor Rahat Kazmi, filmmaker Akifa Mian, SaminaPeerzada and arts academic Framji Minwalla, Variety reported.Pakistan has sent only two films to the Academy Awardssince the foreign language film category was created in 1956 -Akhtar Kardar's Jago Hua Savera in 1959 and Khwaja KhurshidAnwar's Ghunghat in 1963.
Each country is allowed one submission and it can decidehow the film is chosen. The Pakistan committee was formedindependently and its existence has been kept quiet, with thegovernment having no role but apparently giving its okay.The deadline for submissions in the foreign language filmcategory is October 1.
The Pakistani committee will have enough films to choosefrom, as after a few dormant years, the country's filmindustry is enjoying a revival, with 21 releases so far thisyear.
There is no stated government policy against Oscarparticipation in Pakistan but the issue seems to have been a"low priority" because of political turmoil and a "generallack of precedence within the film establishment", Varietyreported.
British-Pakistani director Hammad Khan, whose debutfeature 'Slackistan' was banned in Pakistan, said: "Pakistanhas not officially submitted any films for the Academy Awardsconsideration in 50 years because the state has never takenfilm seriously, neither as a cultural art form nor as avaluable communal experience.
"In all those years, Pakistan has been so preoccupiedwith coups, wars and religion that cinema has only beenreduced to low entertainment by the powers-that-be. It is, ofcourse, monumentally idiotic to ignore the power of cinema inthe development of any nation's narrative."
Chairing the committee is Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, whobecame Pakistan's first Oscar winner for co-directing the 2011documentary Saving Face, which was about the survivors ofacid attacks.
Other members of the panel are writer Mohsin Hamid (TheReluctant Fundamentalist), director Mehreen Jabbar (RamchandPakistani), actor Rahat Kazmi, filmmaker Akifa Mian, SaminaPeerzada and arts academic Framji Minwalla, Variety reported.Pakistan has sent only two films to the Academy Awardssince the foreign language film category was created in 1956 -Akhtar Kardar's Jago Hua Savera in 1959 and Khwaja KhurshidAnwar's Ghunghat in 1963.
Each country is allowed one submission and it can decidehow the film is chosen. The Pakistan committee was formedindependently and its existence has been kept quiet, with thegovernment having no role but apparently giving its okay.The deadline for submissions in the foreign language filmcategory is October 1.
The Pakistani committee will have enough films to choosefrom, as after a few dormant years, the country's filmindustry is enjoying a revival, with 21 releases so far thisyear.
There is no stated government policy against Oscarparticipation in Pakistan but the issue seems to have been a"low priority" because of political turmoil and a "generallack of precedence within the film establishment", Varietyreported.
British-Pakistani director Hammad Khan, whose debutfeature 'Slackistan' was banned in Pakistan, said: "Pakistanhas not officially submitted any films for the Academy Awardsconsideration in 50 years because the state has never takenfilm seriously, neither as a cultural art form nor as avaluable communal experience.
"In all those years, Pakistan has been so preoccupiedwith coups, wars and religion that cinema has only beenreduced to low entertainment by the powers-that-be. It is, ofcourse, monumentally idiotic to ignore the power of cinema inthe development of any nation's narrative."
