98th Academy Awards: Variety reported that China has selected Shen Ao’s ‘Dead to Rights’ as its entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.
98th Academy Awards: ‘Dead to Rights’- Theme
Written by Shen Ao, Zhang Ke, and Xu Luyang, and set against the backdrop of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, drawing from documented historical events, ‘Dead to Rights‘ follows A Chang (Liu Haoran of the ‘Detective Chinatown’ franchise), a postman who assumes the identity of a photo developer to survive the Japanese occupation.
Operating from within the walls of a Japanese-controlled studio, he covertly shelters Chinese soldiers and civilians in an act of quiet resistance. The film is produced by Furuo Qing of ‘The Wandering Earth’ franchise fame. Niu Vision Media and Echelon Studios released the film in North America in August.
China yet to win the international feature Oscar
‘Dead to Rights’ opened in China on July 25 and has grossed more than RMB3 billion ($415 million). It led the local box office for 16 consecutive days over the summer. China has yet to win the international feature Oscar. The country has scored two nominations in the category to date, with Zhang Yimou’s ‘Ju Dou’ (1991) and ‘Hero’ (2003).
Hong Kong, which submits separately, has earned three nominations: Zhang Yimou’s ‘Raise the Red Lantern’ (1992), Chen Kaige’s ‘Farewell My Concubine’ (1994) and Derek Tsang’s ‘Better Days’ (2021). Last year, China submitted Fang Li’s documentary ‘The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru,’ which was disqualified by the Academy for not meeting language requirements.
Movie based on Gazi’s 2011 novella
The movie Dead to Rights is based on Gazi’s 2011 novella, the film is set in rural Bangladesh in the 1990s and follows Dipa, a young woman forced into a marriage with a widower in England. Following a period of mistreatment, she comes back home as a divorced woman and faces the deeply rooted patriarchal views of her society while chasing her aspiration to become a doctor. The drama depicts her slow transition from being vulnerable to achieving self-reliance, according to Variety.
98th Academy Awards
The Oscar international feature shortlist will be announced on December 16 and the final five nominees will be announced on January 22. Earlier, Bangladesh’s Oscar committee had chosen Leesa Gazi’s debut movie ‘Barir Naam Shahana’ (‘A House Named Shahana’) as its submission for the best international feature film category at the 98th Academy Awards, reported Variety.
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