Vivek Agnihotri, Anupam Kher falsely claim that The Kashmir Files is shortlisted for Oscars

Vivek Agnihotri and Anupam Kher recently made a false claim on Twitter stating that their film The Kashmir Files has been “shortlisted” for The Academy Awards. The film, however, is only eligible along with 300 other films to be shortlisted as per the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Art And Sciences.

“BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: #TheKashmirFiles has been shortlisted for #Oscars2023 in the first list of @TheAcademy. It’s one of the 5 films from India. I wish all of them the very best. A great year for Indian cinema,” Vivek tweeted. 

Anupam Kher also took to Twitter to make the false claim. “Deeply humbled to see #TheKashmirFiles as a film and my name shortlisted in #BestFilm and #BestActor catagory for the #Oscars2023! Even as a short list it is a big triumph for us. Congratulations also to other Indian films in the list,” he said.

However, as per the list shared by the Academy on December 21, only four Indian films are shortlisted across ten categories. These are Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes in the Documentary Feature Film Category, Pan Nalin’s Last Film Show or Chhello Show for International Feature Film, ‘Naatu Naatu’ song from SS Rajamouli’s RRR in the Music (Original Song) category, and Kartiki Gonsalves’s The Elephant Whisperers for Documentary Short Film.

You can check the full list of shortlisted films here: https://aframe.oscars.org/news/post/2023-oscars-shortlists

The Kashmir Files is only in the list of 10 films from India eligible for an Oscar. As per the official site of The Academy, feature films must “open in a commercial motion picture theater in at least one of six U.S. metropolitan areas: Los Angeles County; the City of New York; the Bay Area; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia, between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022,” to be eligible. They must also complete a minimum qualifying run of seven consecutive days in the same venue and have a run time of over 40 minutes.

The other eligible films from India are All That Breathes, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Jungle Cry, Kantara, Last Film Show, RRR, Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, The Elephant Whisperers, and Vikrant Rona.

You can check the full list of eligible films here: https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/reminder_list_productions_eligible_95_oscars.pdf

The Kashmir Files was in the centre of controversy last year after Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid called it a “vulgar, propaganda” film at the International Film Festival of India that was held in Goa.