The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has selected Havana Marking’s documentary “Afghan Star” to represent the UK in the Oscar’s Foreign-language film race.
The documentary follows competitors, males and females, entering the Afghan version of “Pop Idol” that is aired on Afghanistan TV.
The selection of this Afghan-UK production was made possible thanks to changes in the Oscar rules that now allow films in a language that is not one of the principle lingos of the submitting country.
“Afghan Star” is Marking’s first documentary, and it won the world documentary directing and audience awards at Sundance.
Previous UK submissions to the Oscar Foreign category included the Welsh-spoken film, Paul Morrison’s “Solomon and Gaenor”, which went on to win an Oscar nomination.