Explained: With ‘Laapataa Ladies’ as India’s official Oscars entry, a look at the selection process

Rao took to Instagram to explicit her “heartfelt gratitude to the enactment committee and to everyone who believed successful the film”. She added, “It is so a large privilege to beryllium selected from among specified astonishing Indian films this twelvemonth — who are arsenic worthy contenders for this honour.”

The Film Federation of India (FFI) announced the film’s enactment successful Chennai. A full of 29 movies were nether consideration, including Payal Kapadia’s Cannes winner All We Imagine As Light, Anand Ekarshi’s National Award-winning Aattam, and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s arguable blockbuster Animal.

What is the FFI, however does it prime the films for Oscars’ information and wherefore has it travel nether disapproval recently? We explain.

Firstly, what is the FFI?

On its website, the FFI describes itself arsenic the “parent assemblage of each the starring movie associations of India”, with an nonsubjective to “promote, commerce successful wide and successful peculiar to promote, support and ticker implicit the interests of the Indian Film Industry and allied industries and trades, including the interests of producers, distributors and-exhibitors of films and of each different persons connected with the movie industry.”

It besides aims to “popularise the movie manufacture and its products successful India and abroad”, and appoints the 13-member assemblage that decides which movie to nonstop to the Academy Awards. These members are “senior qualified people” from the “creative field”, according to an earlier property release. This assemblage besides has a chairperson — this time, it was Assamese manager Jahnu Barua — whom the FFI nominates.

Further, the existent assemblage lone comprised men, starring galore connected societal media to speculate connected the “laapataa (missing)” ladies successful the enactment committee, and criticising the arbitrariness of the process.

How does a movie marque it to the FFI’s radar?

The enforcement committee, headed by the president of the FFI (currently Ravi Kottarakara), typically “invites” filmmakers to taxable their cinematic works for assemblage evaluation.

The submissions indispensable acceptable the Academy’s eligibility rules, specified arsenic the movie being astatine slightest 40 minutes agelong and produced extracurricular the United States of America. More than 50% of its dialogues should beryllium successful a non-English language. It should person had astatine slightest a seven-day theatrical merchandise betwixt November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024.

Details of the film, its crew, and different submissions, on with a outgo of Rs 1.25 lakh indispensable beryllium made to the FFI. In a property release, the FFI wrote, “We invited much and much films to enactment successful the tally to get nominated arsenic India’s introduction into Oscars this year.” It added that it volition “provide each the assistance to the producers to person a smooth, antiauthoritarian and transparent information process”.

After each the films person been screened for the jury, the last prime is decided by a vote. Barua told The Indian Express successful an earlier interview, “We were successful Chennai for 7-8 days, and we were watching the 29 films that were sent to us. Throughout this period, we utilized to person in-depth discussions astir the films.”

On the jury’s enactment criteria, helium said the movie should correspond “India’s societal systems and ethos.”

What did the FFI assemblage accidental about Laapataa Ladies?

In its citation, the FFI said Laapataa Ladies is simply a “film that tin engage, entertain and marque consciousness not conscionable to women successful India but besides universally arsenic well”.

However, the citation besides attracted disapproval connected societal media for its connection and immoderate typos. It begins with “Indian women are a unusual substance of submission and dominance”, and goes connected to accidental that the movie “shows you that women tin happily tendency to beryllium location makers arsenic good arsenic rebel and beryllium entrepreneurially inclined.”

And finally, what is the Best International Feature Film category?

The Academy Awards invitation countries to nonstop their champion films to vie for the prize. “Selection of that movie shall beryllium made by 1 approved organization, assemblage oregon committee, of which astatine slightest 50% indispensable see artists and/or craftspeople from the tract of question pictures,” the Academy’s rules state.

The last nominations are determined done 2 rounds of voting. A preliminary committee views the eligible submissions and votes by concealed ballot to nutrient a shortlist of 15 films. The nominating committee views those films and votes by concealed ballot to find the category’s last 5 nominees. Ultimately, the Academy members ballot for the winner.

From India, 3 films person made it to the last nominations — Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Lagaan (2001), each successful Hindi. Last year, the Malayalam movie 2018: Everyone is simply a Hero connected the 2018 Kerala floods was India’s authoritative entry.