Oscars 2021: Indian short film Bittu shortlisted in Live Action Category

Oscars 2021: Indian short film 'Bittu' has been shortlisted for the 93rd Academy Awards in Live Action Category. India’s official Oscar entry Jallikattu has failed to make it to the International Feature Film shortlist.

Bittu has emerged amongst the Top 10 candidates after the first round of voting, competing amongst 174 films from across the globe. The film will now be subjected to the votes of members of the short films and animation branch to determine the shortlists and the nominees.

The second round of voting will begin on March 5, 2021 and it would decide the top 5 films across the globe, making it to the final nominations to be announced on March 15.

We're exhilarated to know that Bittu has moved to the next round in its race to the Oscars as one of the top10 films to compete for the nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards in Best Live Action Short Film category!

A big congratulations to team Bittu!🌟

Let's rise together!✨ pic.twitter.com/JDK3YA08zW

— Indian Women Rising (@IndWomenRising) February 10, 2021

The short film, directed Karishma Dev Dube, is based on a true story. The film tells the tale of a heartwarming friendship between two school-going friends. 

Dube shared that it is every filmmaker’s dream to be recognised by the academy. She said, "I’m overwhelmed by the gratitude. This recognition however is not mine alone, I made this film with an incredible cast and crew, all of whom I’m so grateful for. I’m just very happy that Bittu is able to represent this team and my country at this platform.”

The Top 10 shortlisted films in Live Action Short Film Category for the 93rd Academy Awards include:

1. Bittu
2. Day Yie
3. Feeling Through
4. The Human Voice
5. The Kicksled Choir
6. The Letter Room
7. The Present
8. Two Distant Strangers
9. The Van

About Bittu 

•The film has been inspired by the infamous school poisoning of 2013 and explores the close friendship between two school girls on a seemingly normal day at school. 

•Set in a picturesque location against the backdrop of Himalayas, the follows the story of an eight-year-old who must take matters into her own hands when her community fails to protect its most vulnerable.

•Bittu is cinema collective Indian Women Rising’s first project. The Indian Women Rising is a joint endeavour of Ekta Kapoor, Guneet Monga, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana and Ruchikaa Kapoor, which aims to discover Indian female talent in cinema.

Indian Women Rising in a joint statement shared, “Exhilarated, proud and overwhelmed to witness the journey of the film unfold so gracefully. Karishma Dev Dube’s excellent storytelling compelled us to come on board for the project and now as the world is recognising and appreciating the efforts we are nothing but proud of the film and the entire team that made it possible to achieve this feat. We are all geared up for the next steps that lay ahead of us in this journey and look forward to continued support we received so far. Truly humbled.”

We're exhilarated to know that Bittu has moved to the next round in its race to the Oscars as one of the top10 films to compete for the nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards in Best Live Action Short Film category!

A big congratulations to team Bittu!🌟

Let's rise together!✨ pic.twitter.com/JDK3YA08zW

— Indian Women Rising (@IndWomenRising) February 10, 2021

Background

The film had recently won the honour of Best Asian American Student Filmmaker Award in East Region by the Director’s Guild of America’. The short film has also made its presence felt in over eighteen film festivals across the world.

The film is an internationally acclaimed cinematic piece having screened at several prestigious film festivals like BFI London Film Festival, Telluride, Palm Springs Shortest, Dharamshala Film Festival and the HollyShorts Film Festival, where Karishma Dev Dube won the Best Director Award.