The documentary about ISIS fighters has been selected for the International Film Submission.
Canada has submitted its film for the Oscars 2024 in the International Feature Film category. The film that will represent Canada is Rojak. Telefilm Canada announced it on Thursday.
ROJEK by @ZayneAkyol is Canada’s Choice in the race for Best International Feature Film at the #Oscars2024! Congratulations to the team! We are beyond excited to follow you on this journey and wish you the best of luck moving forward. ✨https://t.co/wtt0ULcAgo #Documentary pic.twitter.com/idndMSgUAG
— Telefilm Canada (@Telefilm_Canada) August 24, 2023
It’s a documentary by Zaynê Akyol, which features the imprisoned fighters of the Islamic State and their wives in prison camps. Through their anecdotes, the audiences will get to know about the rise and fall of the Islamic State.
Rojek was released in Canadian theatres earlier this year on 28 January. Before that, it premiered at the 2022 Visions du Réel Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland. The documentary is a mix of languages like Arabic, English, French, and Kurdish. It is also produced by Audrey-Ann Dupuis-Pierre, Sylvain Corbeil, and Akyol of Metafilms.
The deadline to submit the movies is October 2. As of now, countries that have submitted their films are Canada, Chile, Germany, Estonia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Uruguay, and South Korea. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced on December 21. After that, the final five nominees will be announced on January 23, 2024.
Meanwhile, the last Canadian film to be nominated in this category was War Witch in Oscars 2013. So, it will be interesting to see whether Rojek will make it to the final five or not.
Published by HOLR Magazine