India's 'Newton' out of Oscar race

Los Angeles, Dec 15 Rajkummar Rao starrer Newton, which was India’s official entry in the Foreign Language Film category at the 2018 Oscars, couldn’t make it to the final list of nominations. The official website of the Oscars released the list of nine features which have advanced to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category and the Amit V. Masurkar directorial didn’t find a place in it. Angelina Jolie’s First They Killed My Father from Cambodia was also omitted from the list.
The nine films competing for the best foreign language film Oscar are:
Chile, A Fantastic Woman
Germany, In the Fade
Hungary, On Body and Soul
Israel, Foxtrot
Lebanon, The Insult
Russia, Loveless
Senegal, Félicité
South Africa, The Wound
Sweden, The Square
The nominations for Academy Awards 2018 will be announced on January 23, 2018, and the awards will take place on March 4, 2018 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Newton, a satire and dark comedy set against the backdrop of elections in the world’s largest democracy, was chosen from among 26 titles from different languages by a 14-member jury appointed by the Film Federation of India (FFI). The FFI, which faced criticism over the selection of India’s Oscar entry in the past, was lauded for this year’s choice by many. Actor Ayushmann Khurrana called it “very deserving” and filmmaker Hansal Mehta tweeted: “#Newton is India’s entry to the Oscars. The best choice in years by the federation.”
–IANS