Tamil film Koozhangal (Pebbles) directed by Vinothraj PS, is India’s official entry to the 2022 Oscars.
If Koozhangal finds a place on the nomination list, it will represent India in the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards next year.
A 15-member panel of the Film Federation of India, headed by filmmaker Shaji N Karun as the chairman of the jury, selected Koozhangal from among 14 shortlisted films. Mandela, Nayattu, Sherni and Sardar Udham were among the other films in the shortlist.
Produced by Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan under the Rowdy Pictures banner, Koozhangal, is directed by debutant Vinothraj, a Madurai-based filmmaker.
Making the announcement, Vignesh Shivan tweeted on Saturday “There’s a chance to hear this! “And the Oscars goes to …. “ Two steps away from a dream come true moment in our lives.”
As per the official synopsis of the film, in Koozhangal, “An alcoholic wife beater embarks on a journey, dragging his young son along to fetch back his wife whom he had chased away.”
Silverscreen India’s review of the film called it “part of a new wave happening on the peripheries of Tamil cinema where young filmmakers with little or no experience in filmmaking are coming up with stunning experiments in cinema.”
In February this year, Koozhangal also became the first Tamil film to win the prestigious Tiger Award at the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).
Speaking to Silverscreen India after the win, Vinothraj said “Everyone who had watched the film at the festival had liked it. We knew we were going to win something.”
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“Film festivals are important. But I want the film to be seen by my people. It is about them, for them,” he added.
The Academy Awards are scheduled to be held in March, 2022. Other films selected to represent India at the Oscars in the past include Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Jallikattu and Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy. Both films failed to find a place on the nomination list. In the 2021 Academy Awards, Danish film Another Round won in the Best International Feature Film category.