Georgian war time drama Mandarinebi (Tangerines) has been submitted for the Best Foreign-Language Film Race at the Oscars – the world’s most prestigious ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the film industry.
Tangerines, by Georgian director Zaza Urushadze is the first Georgian-Estonian co-production and was nominated by Estonia in the prestigious Academy Awards ceremony, which was rebranded the Oscars in 2013.
The film was set in the early 1990s and followed two elderly ethnic Estonian neighbours who find themselves caught up in a bitter civil war in the country's Abkhazia region, just as their orchards are ready to be harvested.
Tangerines has already gained global recognition. The film has won 15 international film awards at six international festivals since it was released in 2013, including top prizes at the Warsaw International Film Festival 2013, the Seattle International Film Festival 2014 and the BIFEST - Bari International Film Festival 2014.
Meanwhile, just because a film was nominated by a country does not necessarily mean it will be inserted into the Oscars program. Each film must go through a strict judging process before it is even accepted as a candidate in the awards ceremony program.
The deadline for Oscar submissions is October 1 and successfully nominated films will be announced on January 15, 2015. The Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 22 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.