Pakistani Academy Selection Committee invited filmmakers to submit their films for Oscar consideration in the International Feature Film Award category for the 96th Academy Awards. The Committee announced September 1, 2023 5pm Pakistan Standard Time as the due date.
For the unversed, an international film is a feature-length motion picture of over 40 minutes produced outside of the United States of America and its territories. The category also includes animated and documentary feature films.
This year’s Committee is chaired by Mohammed Ali Naqvi. The Committee will choose one film as Pakistan’s official submission for the prestigious award. Other names of film professionals, artists, and experts will be released later this month.
The Committee also n the motion pictures industry.
For a film to be eligible to be submitted as a submission, it must:
• Be first released in the country of origin no earlier than December 1, 2022, and no later than October 31, 2023, and
• Be first publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theatre for the profit of the producer and exhibitor.
In order to fulfill theatrical exhibition requirements, the Academy will permit films to qualify outside the country of origin, provided the film is theatrically exhibited outside of the United States for at least a week in a commercial motion picture theatre for paid admission.
The film must be advertised and exploited during its qualifying theatrical release. The film need not have been released in the United States.
It should also be noted that films that, in any version, receive a non theatrical public exhibition or distribution before their qualifying theatrical release will not be eligible for Academy Awards consideration.
Non-theatrical public exhibition or distribution includes but is not limited to broadcast and cable television, PPV/VOD, DVD distribution, inflight airline distribution, and internet transmission.
The recording of the original dialogue track as well as the completed picture must be predominantly in a language other than English. Accurate, legible English language subtitles are required.
