The stage is all set for the 2023 edition of the Academy Awards, whose verdict will be out on 12 March 2023. Before that, the nominations voting process will take place from 12th to 17th January and the nominated titles will be announced on 24th January. The Academy has recently published the final list of 301 films which are eligible to be nominated and the number is around 9% higher than last year’s eligible films list.
And, as expected, many premium titles have made it to the Oscars 2023 eligible films list. These include ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘TAR’, ‘The Fabelmans’, ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, ‘Decision to Leave’, ‘Elvis’, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, and ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, to name a few.
On the Indian movies front, S.S. Rajamouli’s action extravaganza ‘RRR’, Shaunak Sen’s acclaimed documentary ‘All That Breathes’, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period drama ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, single-shot film ‘Iravin Nizhal’, ‘Kantara’, ‘The Kashmir Files’, Pan Nalin’s ‘Last Film Show’, ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’, and ‘Vikrant Rona’ have been mentioned amongst the 301 eligible films list.
For any film to make it to the Oscars 2023 eligible films list, the title should have had a commercial theatrical release between 1st January 2022 and 31st December 2022. Moreover, the movie should have been continuously played for seven days in the same place at a minimum of one of the six US areas namely Los Angeles County, New York City, the Bay Area, Chicago, Miami, and Atlanta. And the title must also have a runtime of at least 40 minutes.
As far as Indian films are concerned, we all know that ‘RRR’ has become such a rage amongst American audiences, especially after its Netflix release. Despite being a fan-favorite contender, the race for the Oscars is quite tough and ‘RRR’ is up against some really well-made films.
‘Chhello Show’ too, which was India’s official submission for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category, will be competing against the likes of ‘Argentina, 1985’, ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, ‘Bardo’, and ‘Decision to Leave’, amongst others. It remains to be seen whether history will be created at the 95th Academy Awards by these Indian films or not. Stay tuned until then.