Indonesia has selected horror drama Impetigore as its official entry for the 2021 Oscars. It will compete in the Best International Feature section.
According to Variety, Impetigore is the Indonesian entry in next year’s Academy Awards. Joko Anwar is the director of this creepy horror flick. It also premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
Indonesian Academy Awards Selection Committee announced the news earlier this week. When the director got to know about it, he tweeted his excitement on Twitter:
“Hopefully, this film can be a good representation and raise international audiences’ interest in Indonesian films.”
‘Impetigore’ movie plot and cast details
The film shows two women who are not able to make it big in city life. Then they decide to return to their native village. But to their surprise, they witness strange things there.
The cast includes actresses Marissa Anita and Tara Basro, with Christine Hakim and Asmara Abigail. The latter was also named Asian Star Up Next last year by Variety.
Shudder manages Impetigore in the United States. The movie title is originally translated as “Perempuan Tanah Jahanam.” And the English meaning of it is “Women of the Damned Land.” Base Entertainment and Rapi Films are the movie’s producers. Ivanhoe Pictures, known for Crazy Rich Asians and South Korean’s CJ Entertainment (Parasite), are also part of it.
Interestingly, it’s not the only horror entry in next year’s Oscars. Indonesia’s neighbor Malaysia has also selected Roh as its official contender for International Feature.
2021 Oscars will be a virtual event?
Right now, the COVID-19 is all over the world, and big events have been shifted to online platforms. Many award festivals took place on streaming portals and also on YouTube. And looking at this state of crisis, it may become a reality that the Oscars will happen virtually for the first time. It will be the first instance of the event not happening in its traditional style.
Meanwhile, the competition is becoming tough for the selected entries in the Best International Feature category. South Korea’s The Man Standing Next, Japan’s True Mothers, and Iran’s Sun Children are some recent additions.
However, Indonesia’s Impetigore is no small film in itself when it comes to critical acclaims. Recently it earned a massive 17 nominations at the Indonesian Film Festivals (IFF). It was nominated for Best Feature, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Makeup, and Best Music. Considering these many nods, it looks like the fight will be interesting to watch out in the Academy awards ceremony in February.
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