For any filmmaker, having their film being nominated for Oscars is a dream. Every year, many Indian films get picked as official entries for the Academy Awards. And, some films like 'RRR' take the initiative to campaign for their films independently. The Malayalam film '2018' was chosen this year for Oscars, but it didn't make it to the list of nominations.
Its director, Jude Anthany Joseph has now opened up at a round table with Galatta Plus, shedding light on the stressful nature of campaigning for the prestigious awards.
In a conversation with Bharadwaj Rangan, the director revealed that he campaigned for the film for 45 days. “It’s a wonderful journey, you meet so many people in Los Angeles, US, and screen your film to them. It’s awesome to get their feedback as a filmmaker and even better to represent India. They were surprised that I made the film on a budget of $3 million. That budget is nothing for them, but it’s big for Malayalam cinema," he stated.
He further revealed that the first and the most important step is to hire a good publicist. “I was told by our publicist that even if the jury loves the film, they have to love me too. To advertise in magazines there is costly. It costs $15,000 ( ₹12,48,442) for a single page ad. And you have to take out at least 10-15 ads to get noticed. The producers have to spend crores to campaign for the film there. Pan Nalin (director of 'Chhello Show') helped me a lot with the checklist of things to do.”
'2018' is based on the horrific Kerala floods that occured in 2018. This survival drama stars Tovino Thomas, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Narain and Lal. Having been screened in theatres twice, it was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars under the Best International Feature Film category.
