Pakistani cinema
might have made a comeback, but the politics are very much the same. Soon after
the Pakistani Academy Selection Committee (PASC) recommended Zinda Bhaag to the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration in the
Foreign Language Film category over Josh, Chambaili and Lamha, naysayers took
to social media to share their reservations.
The opposition
The United Producers
Association (UPA) — the body that earlier voiced concern over the airing of
Turkish soaps — expressed its criticism via a press release on its Facebook
page. The organisation, headed by film-maker Shahzad Nawaz whose Chambaili
didn’t make the cut, has previously also questioned the formation of the PASC.
Dr Framji Minwalla,
a member of the Oscar committee, explains why the film was selected over
others. “Some people believe films dealing with urgent social issues should be
ranked higher than others, no matter how badly [they are] made, and that
exceptional films with no social value should receive little public attention,
while others think the social relevance of a film has absolutely no place in
the consideration of cinematic excellence,” he says. “A smarter approach
assesses how well the technical, narrative, aesthetic and social aspects work
together to show us the world anew. In
its own modest way, Zinda Bhaag has revealed a Pakistan we had not seen before
and did so with technical surety, while also taking smart aesthetic and
narrative risks.”
Framji adds, “To
hurl questions at the integrity of the process because the work one prefers was
not selected seems particularly arrogant, especially when those questions are
designed to disqualify certain films from consideration. I have a question for
Secretary General UPA Shahbaz Siddiqui: Do you want these films disqualified
because your boss believes his submission [Chambaili] does not stand a chance
when measured against a fair playing field? Instead of grandstanding, feeling
victimised and getting other people to do his dirty work, perhaps the president
of the UPA [Nawaz] should start planning to produce a better film next year.”
UPA argues
• Why was the official last date of submission
set for August 25 by the PASC, when the international deadline is September 30?
• To be eligible for this year’s Academy
Awards, films must have been released in Pakistan for a run of at least seven
consecutive days beginning no earlier than October 1, 2012 and no later than
September 30, 2013. With a scheduled release for September 20, how has it
fulfilled these requirements?
• Why could the committee not wait until
September 30, the stipulated deadline for an entry’s release, to announce its
decision to select the film?
• Why has the press release been
issued with a letterhead of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Films instead of the official
Oscar Pakistan Committee when the forms available in Pakistan carried the
Academy logo?
PASC hits back
• The physical copy and related material of the
selected film must reach the Academy by October 1, thus the local submission
and selection process must happen well before that. The committee set forth the
deadline of August 25 to ensure there was ample time for the committee to verify
that all submissions were viable, circulate the films internally, cast their
ballot, inform the winning party and dispatch the film to Los Angeles in time
for the official Academy submission date.
• All films released before September 30 were
entertained for selection, which is why Lamha and Zinda Bhaag were not
disqualified.
• The rules set forth by the Academy state that
the submitted film must be screened commercially for seven days in the country
of release. Both Zinda Bhaag and Lamha are set to release this week, thereby
fulfilling this requirement. Such practices are commonplace globally; the
Indian film The Lunchbox for instance, is a forerunner for submission for the
Academy Awards and is also set to be released on the September 20. PASC had already received verification from
the film-makers of both Lamha and Zinda Bhaag, thereby ensuring that the films
would in fact release before September 20. Similar announcements were also made
in national newspapers, by the said film-makers thereby further validating the
announced release dates.
• The committee preempted the announcement in
order to ensure that the film-makers had enough time to compile and dispatch
the material to Los Angeles in order to meet their international deadline. Over
30 countries have also made their decisions public before September 30 — it’s a
normal practice that film-makers in Pakistan will get used to the more we
continue to be a part of the film submission process.
• Zinda Bhaag is permitted to
publicly announce its official selection for Pakistan for 2013 — it was
announced by PASC’s office through a press release to inform the country which
film would be representing it.
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