Misleading: The Kashmir Files has been shortlisted for the Oscar Awards to be held in March 2023.

By: Rahul Adhikari
January 11 2023

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Context

On Tuesday, January 10, film director Vivek Agnihotri shared a post on Twitter claiming that his 2022 film The Kashmir Files has been shortlisted for the upcoming Oscar Awards. The director also claimed that actors Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumaar, and Pallavi Joshi had been shortlisted in the best actor category for the Academy Awards, and only five Indian films had been shortlisted. Several media organizations published news reports based on Agnihotri's tweet. However, after the tweet went viral, several Twitter users, including journalists and authors, refuted his claim on Twitter. We also found several users on the social media app Koo circulating the same claim.

In Fact

The claim comes from confusion over the difference between the Oscars' reminder list and the shortlist. On January 6, the academy published a reminder list of films eligible to be included in the Oscars. The shortlist contains films that may move on to the next round of voting by academy members. A news article published on the academy's website on January 9 explained that 301 films had made it to the list of productions eligible for consideration, including 11 Indian features. The reminder list also includes performers eligible for consideration in the acting categories. While The Kashmir Files is on the reminder list, it has not made it onto the shortlist.

The Academy published a list of films shortlisted in 10 categories. The list contains four Indian entries - Chhello Show in the International Feature Film category, All That Breathes in the documentary feature category, The Elephant Whisperers in the Documentary Short Film category, and Naatu Naatu from SS Rajamouli's RRR in the Music (Original Song) category. The Kashmir Files did not feature on this list.

Therefore, Agnihotri's claims are misleading. The Kashmir Files has not been shortlisted for the 95th Academy Awards, and the film's actors have not been shortlisted in their respective categories either. Further, Agnihotri's claim that only five Indian films have made it to the list is false. A total of 11 Indian feature films have made it to the eligibility list of 301 films, and two documentaries from India are also in contention in the academy's shortlist. The nominations voting for the Oscars begins on January 12, and the list of nominations will be announced on January 24. The award ceremony will be hosted on March 12 in Hollywood.

The Verdict

The Kashmir Files and its actors have not been shortlisted for the 2023 Oscar awards in their respective categories. The film, along with 10 other Indian feature films, has been named in the reminder list of eligible films for the 95th Academy Awards. Therefore, we have marked the claim as misleading.