List of Pakistani submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
| Best International Feature Film submissions from Pakistan | |
|---|---|
| Highlights | |
| Debut | 1959 |
| Submissions | 13 |
| Nominations | none |
| Oscar winners | none |
Pakistan submitted its first film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[nb 1] in 1959, three years after the incorporation of the category,[3] and submitted a second entry in 1963. The award is given annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.[4] The "Best Foreign Language Film" category was not created until 1956; however, between 1947 and 1955, the Academy presented a non-competitive Honorary Award for the best foreign language films released in the United States.[5]
As of 2025, Pakistan has submitted thirteen films, but none of them were nominated.
Submissions
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1956. The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Pakistan for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Pakistan's first Oscar submission, The Day Shall Dawn was a co-production between the two halves of what was then a geographically divided Pakistani state (now independent Pakistan and Bangladesh). The movie was filmed in Dhaka, East Pakistan (contemporary Bangladesh) by the East Pakistan Film Development Corporation (EPFDC) by a A.J. Kardar from Lahore (in West Pakistan) [6] and scripted in the Urdu language, which is native to the West. The film, which won a major award at the Moscow International Film Festival, was about the daily lives of East Pakistani fishermen. Pakistan's second submission, The Veil,[7] is about the disappearance of a veiled young bride on the day she is scheduled to be married off to a rich young man.
After the submission of the first two films, there was no submission for fifty years because of the sudden collapse of Pakistani cinema.[8] The growth of Pakistani cinema began from 1947 to 1958 and went through the golden age of films between 1959 and 1977, where good productions were uplifted by many directors, producers and writers. In 1977 the country's political condition became critical due to the overthrow of the government of Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto by Zia-ul-Haq who brought Sharization to Pakistan.[9] Since then, the Pakistan film industry went through many obstacles and was unable to overcome the consequences, good productions in industry were stopped and only Urdu films reached to cinema. According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics there were at least 700 cinemas operating in the country but the number had declined to less than 170 by 2005.[8]
In 2013 Pakistan submitted their third film after a gap of 50 years.[10] Zinda Bhaag was a Punjabi-language comedy drama film, that encounters the life of three young-men trying to get rid of the life miseries.[11] Pakistan fourth submission, Dukhtar, was a drama-thriller film[12][13] about a mother and her ten-year-old daughter[14] who abandon their home to save the girl from an arranged marriage to a tribal leader.[15][16]
In 2016, semi-biographical drama film, Mah e Mir was submitted which follows the life of a troubled poet who obsessed himself with 18-century legendary poet Mir Taqi Mir.[17][18]
2022's Joyland was shortlisted between the 15 finalist films, but was not nominated.[19]
In 2023, Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi was appointed by Pakistani Academy Selection Committee as its chairman to choose one film among those released that year to be submitted as Pakistan's Official entry to Oscars.[20][21] The chosen films, along with their English subtitles, are sent to the Academy, where they are screened for the jury.
| Year (Ceremony) |
Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language | Director | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 (32nd) |
The Day Shall Dawn[6] | جاگو ہوا سویرا | Urdu | A. J. Kardar | Not nominated |
| 1963 (36th) |
The Veil[7] | گھونگٹ | Khawaja Khurshid Anwar | Not nominated | |
| 2013 (86th) |
Zinda Bhaag[22] | زندہ بھاگ | Punjabi | Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi | Not nominated |
| 2014 (87th) |
Dukhtar[23] | دختر | Urdu, Pashto | Afia Nathaniel | Not nominated |
| 2015 (88th) |
Moor[24] | ماں | Jami | Not nominated | |
| 2016 (89th) |
Mah e Mir[25] | ماہ میر | Urdu | Anjum Shahzad | Not nominated |
| 2017 (90th) |
Saawan[26] | ساون | Farhan Alam | Not nominated | |
| 2018 (91st) |
Cake[27] | کیک | Asim Abbasi | Not nominated | |
| 2019 (92nd) |
Laal Kabootar[28] | لال کبوتر | Kamal Khan | Not nominated | |
| 2020 (93rd) |
Circus of Life[29] | زندگی تماشا | Urdu, Punjabi | Sarmad Khoosat | Not nominated |
| 2022 (95th) |
Joyland[19] | جوائے لینڈ | Saim Sadiq | Made shortlist | |
| 2023 (96th) |
In Flames[30] | Urdu | Zarrar Kahn | Not nominated | |
| 2024 (97th) |
The Glassworker[31] | شیشہ گر | Urdu, English | Usman Riaz | Not nominated |
See also
- List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film
- List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Pakistan
- List of countries by number of Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
- List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films
- Cinema of Bangladesh
- Cinema of Pakistan
Notes
References
- General
- Specific
- ^ "Academy announces rules for 92nd Oscars". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- ^ "Academy Announces Rule Changes For 92nd Oscars". Forbes. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- ^ "History of the Academy Awards – Page 2". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ^ "Rule Thirteen: Special Rules for the Foreign Language Film Award". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ "History of the Academy Awards – Page 1". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 13 April 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ a b "First Pakistani Picture, made its way to oscar". Dawn News. 17 February 2002. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ a b "Second film of Pakistan, on the way to Oscars". Film.com. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ a b "Deteriorating Cinema of Pakistan". Diplomatic circle. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ Jones, Owen Bennett (2002). Pakistan : eye of the storm. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 16–7. ISBN 9780300097603.
... Zia rewarded the only political party to offer him consistent support, Jamaat-e-Islami. These appointments meant Zia's Islamic agenda lived on long after he died.
- ^ "Pakistan sends official entry to Oscars after 50 years". Arab News. 5 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ "Zinda Bhaag reflects new generation of Pak filmmakers and viewers: Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi". Sirijana Mitra Das. The Times of India. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
- ^ "Catching Up With Afia Nathaniel, Director of Dukhtar". PASTe. Valentina. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ "Afia Nathaniel on Rugged Journey to Bring Pakistani Child Marriage Drama to Screen". Variety. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ "Dukhtar: A Woman's Story in Pakistan". The Diplomat. Soniya Rehman. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
- ^ "From a mother to her dukhtar". The Express Tribune. Rafay Mahmood. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
- ^ "Dukhtar - a voice against unwilling tradition". Voice of America (Urdu). 14 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ^ "Pakistan Sends 'Mah E Mir' to the Oscars". Variety. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ^ "Pakistan selects Mah-e-Mir as entry for 2017 Oscars". Geo News. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ^ a b "'Joyland' is Pakistan's entry for Oscars 2023". The Express Tribune. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "Sharmeen selected by PASC to its chairman, to seek the oscars after fifty years". NewsWeekPakistan. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ "Call For Oscar Submission For Pakistani Filmmakers by PASC". Media Poondi. 3 August 2013. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ "The Pakistani Academy Selection committee nominates Zinda Bhaag for Oscar consideration". Apnahub. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
- ^ "Dukhtar selected for Oscar consideration by Pakistan Committee". dawn.com. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- ^ "Oscars: Pakistan Enters 'Moor' in Foreign-Language Film Race". The Hollywood Reporter. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ^ "Mah-e-Mir selected as Pakistan's official submission to 2017 Oscars". The Express Tribune. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (17 September 2017). "Desert Drama 'Saawan' Selected by Pakistan for Oscar Contention". Variety. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
- ^ "'Cake' submitted as Pakistan's official entry to Oscars 2019". The Express Tribune. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
- ^ "Geo Films 'Laal Kabootar' selected as Pakistan's official entry for the Oscars". The International News. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
- ^ "'Zindagi Tamasha' is Pakistan's submission to the Oscars". The Express Tribune. 28 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Verhoeven, Beatrice (27 October 2023). "China Submits 'The Wandering Earth 2' As Its 2024 International Oscars Entry (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
- ^ "International Oscar Race: Pakistan Selects Hand-Drawn Animation 'The Glassworker'". Variety. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.