Tajikistan has selected "Black Rabbit, White Rabbit," a mystery drama by Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri (Fish & Cat), to represent the country in the best international feature film category at the 98th Academy Awards.
The news comes in coincidentally with the film’s International Film Festival of India – Vision Asian Award honor at the Busan International Film Festival.
The movie next screens at the BFI London Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival.
The film, a co-production between Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates, was made with the support of Tajikfilm in Tajikistan and produced in Tajik and Persian.
The cast includes a group of prominent Tajik actors, namely Babak Karimi, Hasti Mohammaï, Kibriyo Dilyobova, and Bezhan Davlyatov. Mokri wrote the screenplay with Nasim Ahmadpour. The producer is Negar Eskandarfar.
“A suspicious film prop, a mysterious audition, a conspiratorial road incident and multiple rabbits are woven together in this bold and beguiling drama from Tajikistan,” reads a synopsis of the movie. “A film armorer suspects a fake firearm is real. An actor arrives on set demanding a role. A car crash victim fears her accident was deliberate. Three seemingly disparate stories weave into an enigmatic whole, with flowing, expertly choreographed takes, no small amount of droll humour and flashes of magic realism punctuating Iranian director Shahram Mokri’s playful, subtly provocative meta-mystery.”
The DreamLab Films production is the fourth movie that Tajikistan has submitted for the international Oscar race. The Central Asian country has never been nominated.
"Black Rabbit, White Rabbit" is Mokri’s fourth feature film. His feature debut Fish & Cat (2013) won a special award in the Orizzonti (Horizons) section at the Venice Film Festival.
The director went on to direct "Invasion" (2017), which screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, followed by "Careless Crime" (2020), which screened at Venice and won the jury prize at the Chicago International Film Festival.
The Oscar international feature shortlist will be announced on December 16 and the final five nominees will be announced on January 22.
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