Call For OSCAR Submission For Pakistani Filmmakers

The Pakistani Academy Selection Committee invites Pakistani filmmakers to submit their films for Oscar consideration in the ‘Foreign Language Film Award’ category for the 88^th Academy Awards by 25^th August 2015, 5:00 PM [PST]. In 2014, the Pakistani Academy Selection Committee selected “Dukhtar” to represent the best of Pakistani cinema in the ‘Foreign Language Film Award’ category.

The committee is chaired by Emmy and Academy award winning documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and includes Rohail Hyatt (Pakistani musician, songwriter and founder of Coke Studio), Maheen Khan (acclaimed fashion and costume designer and a veteran of the Pakistani fashion industry), Aamina Sheikh (leading Pakistani actor and model), Satish Anand (film-maker and distributor), Faran Tahir (leading international actor renowned for his roles in Hollywood films Iron Man and Star Trek), Alyy Khan (leading international film and television actor who has appeared in numerous films including A Mighty Heart, Don 2, Traitor and Anjuman), Afia Nathaniel (award winning Director and filmmaker whose debut feature film Dukhtar was selected to represent Pakistani cinema in the Foreign Language Award category at the 87^th Academy Awards), Mazhar Zaidi (journalist, film producer, director and documentary film maker) and Daniyal Mueenuddin (award winning Pakistani-American author and writer of short stories).

The committee will choose one film as Pakistan’s official submission for the, ‘Foreign Language Film Award.’ A foreign language film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.

The criteria for eligibility is as follows:

1. The motion picture must be first released in the country submitting it no earlier than 1^st October, 2014, and no later than 30^th September, 2015, and be first publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theater for the profit of the producer and exhibitor.

2. Submissions must be in 35mm or 70mm film, or in a 24 or 48 frame progressive scan Digital Cinema format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels, source image format conforming to ST 428-1:2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Image Characteristics; image compression (if used) conforming to ISO/IEC 15444-1 (JPEG 2000); and image and sound file formats suitable for exhibition in commercial Digital Cinema sites.

3. The audio in a typical Digital Cinema Package (DCP) is 5.1 channels of discrete audio, and that is the preferred audio configuration, although up to 7.1 channels is acceptable. The minimum for a non-mono configuration of the audio shall be three channels as Left, Centre, Right (a Left/Right configuration is not acceptable in a theatrical environment).

4. The audio data shall be formatted in conformance with ST 428-2:2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Audio Characteristics and ST 428-3:2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Audio Channel Mapping and Channel Labeling.

5. The picture must be advertised and exploited during its theatrical release in a manner considered normal and customary to theatrical feature distribution practices. The picture need not have been released in the United States.

6. Films that, in any version, receive a nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution before their first qualifying theatrical release will not be eligible for Academy Awards consideration. Nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution includes but is not limited to:

• Broadcast and cable television
• PPV/VOD
• DVD distribution
• Internet transmission

7. The recording of the original dialogue track as well as the completed picture must be predominantly in a language or languages other than English. Accurate, legible English-language subtitles are required.

The Pakistani Academy Selection Committee will announce its nomination for award consideration on 10^th September 2015.

The Academy Awards, now officially known as The Oscars, are a set of awards given annually for excellence in cinematic achievements. The Oscar statuette is officially named the Academy Award of Merit and is one of nine types of Academy Awards. Organized and are overseen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

For submission details and queries, please write to: pakistancommittee@gmail.com