"BIRDSHOT" FAILS TO MAKE IT TO OSCARS BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM SHORTLIST

Mikhael Red's "Birdshot" ends Oscar journey and fails to make it to the shortlist of Best Foreign Language Film category for the 90th Academy Awards,

Here's the complete list of the shortlisted films that will advance to the next round of voting:

      CHILE, A Fantastic Woman, Sebastián Lelio, director;

      GERMANY, In the Fade, Fatih Akin, director;

      HUNGARY, On Body and Soul, Ildikó Enyedi, director;

      ISRAEL, Foxtrot, Samuel Maoz, director;

      LEBANON, The Insult, Ziad Doueiri, dirctor;

      RUSSIA, Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev, director;

      SENEGAL, Félicité, Alain Gomis, director;

      SOUTH AFRICA, The Wound, John Trengove, director;

      SWEDEN, The Square, Ruben Östlund, director.

The final 5 nominees will be announced in January 2018. A total of 92 films were submitted from various countries for the Best Foreign Language Film category, The 90th Academy Awards will be held 2018 Academy Awads on March 4, 2018 while the nominations will be announced on January 23

Synopsis of "Birdshot":

"Birdshot" is a mystery-thriller film that tells a story of a young Filipina farm girl who wanders into the boundaries of a Philippine reservation forest. Deep within the reservation she mistakenly shoots and kills a critically endangered and protected Philippine Eagle. As the local authorities begin a manhunt to track down the poacher of a national bird, their investigation leads them to an even more horrific discovery.

The movie won the Best Picture in the Asian Future category at the 2016 Tokyo International Film Festival. It's female lead star newcomer Mary Joy Apostol also won the Best Actress award in the recently concluded 1st ASEAN Film Awards in Da Nang, Vietnam held last month.

I have seen this movie only a few days ago at '76 Cinema in San Juan. This is the first Mikhael Red movie that I have watched and I actually like it. The film was  beautifully shot in lush countryside surrounding a sanctuary for Philippine eagle. Even though it failed to make it at the Oscars, I consider "Birdshot" as one of the best Filipino films I have seen in recent years.  We certainly want to see more of Mikhael Red, he's definitely one of the best new breed of young filmmakers today.

 #Birdshot