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
For those who thought Eternal Spring had "too much" Canadian content, Telefilm Canada brings us Rojek as Canada's nominee for the Oscars in the Best International Feature Film category for the 2024 Academy Awards.
The 2022 documentary from Zaynê Akyol is about imprisoned members of the Islamic State (aka ISIS) and telling the story of the Islamic State through personal stories.
The film did have a run in Canadian theaters in January.
Rojek is in Arabic, Kurdish, French, and English. English is allowed in the category as long as the English is less than 50% of the dialogue. We feel comfortable in that this will not be a repeat of Funny Boy.
This is the second documentary that Canada has entered for the Oscars. Last year's entry Eternal Spring was the first documentary. This is also the first film from Canada where Arabic is the primary language. Incendies, Monsieur Lazhar, and Antigone all featured Arabic as a secondary or tertiary language.
The strategy didn't work too well for Eternal Spring last fall. 14 Days, 12 Nights, like Rojek, was also a year old when Canada picked that film to replace Funny Boy, though that doesn't happen too often. Let's see if Rojek has a better fate.
Canadian film review: Eternal Spring
Eternal Spring misses the Oscars shortlist cut for Best International Feature Film
2023 TIFF Canadian film preview
Telefilm Canada doesn't give breakdowns on possible nominees. Based on the upcoming TIFF schedule, these Canadian film titles could have been in the mix.
- Tautuktavuk | What We See (Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk)
- Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person | Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant (Ariane Louis-Seize)
- Irena's Vow (Louise Archambault)
- Kanaval (Henri Pardo)
- The Nature of Love | Simple Comme Sylvain (Monia Chokri)
- Days of Happiness | Les Jours heureux (Chloé Robichaud)
- Ru (Charles-Olivier Michaud)
We know Telefilm Canada wouldn't have selected the vampire film or Simple Comme Sylvain since comedies are almost allergic in this category.
These titles showcase films with more of a Canadian presence than Rojek.
Akyol told the stories of women fighting against ISIS in her previous documentary, Gulîstan, Land of Roses (2016), her directorial debut.
Films such as this need countries such as Canada to tell these difficult stories. Telefilm Canada's current strategy is to pick films that have no visible Canadian content and aren't films in the Oscars conversation. If Canada won't come close to making the shortlist, why not submit a film that tells a Canadian story?
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
If Rojek makes the shortlist, that will be the first Canadian film in 7 years to have such an honour. The Xavier Dolan film It's Only the End of the World | Juste la fin du monde was the last Canadian film to make the shortlist.
Your humble narrator has seen the last 26 Canadian entries in this category, not counting Rojek. The most recent one I haven't seen is Not Me! | Sous-Sol from the Oscars in 1997.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the films on the 2024 Oscar shortlist on December 21. The five nominees will be announced on January 23, 2024. The 96th Oscars will be held on March 10, 2024.
Twitter capture: @Telefilm_Canada
video credit: YouTube/Icarus Films
photo credit: Rojek
Comments