Pakistan, Cambodia, India, South Korea make 2023 Oscars international feature shortlist

Films from four Asian countries – Pakistan, Cambodia, India and South Korea – have made the shortlist for the 2023 Oscars Best International Feature Film category.

On Wednesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science unveiled the 15-film shortlist. Films from 92 countries and regions were considered this year.

Only five films from the shortlist will be selected by the International Feature Film Nominating Committee to become category nominees.

Each country and region can only submit one film per year.

To be considered for the upcoming Oscars, Pakistan submitted Saim Sadiq’s “Joyland,” Cambodia submitted Davy Chou’s “Return to Seoul,” South Korea submitted Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave” and India submitted Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show.” This is notably the first time a film submitted by India has made the shortlist since “Lagaan” back in 2002.

“Joyland’ has made history as the first Pakistani film shortlisted for an Oscar.

The film debuted at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in May and won both the Jury Prize in the “Un Certain Regard” category and the Queer Palm prize.

The film was initially banned in Pakistan after being considered “repugnant to the norms of decency and morality,” but this decision was later reversed in November.

The full shortlist is as follows:

Argentina, “Argentina, 1985”
Austria, “Corsage”
Belgium, “Close”
Cambodia, “Return to Seoul”
Denmark, “Holy Spider”
France “Saint Omer”
Germany “All Quiet on the Western Front”
India, “Last Film Show”
Ireland, “The Quiet Girl”
Mexico, “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”
Morocco, “The Blue Caftan”
Pakistan, “Joyland”
Poland, “EO”
South Korea, “Decision to Leave”
Sweden, “Cairo Conspiracy”

The 95th Oscars will be held on March 12, 2023.

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