'Amerikatsi' (American), Armenia’s submission for the Academy Awards, has been shortlisted for consideration in the upcoming Oscars, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced on Thursday.
The film joins 13 others vying for a slot in the Best International Film category.
This the first instance that Armenia’s entry to the Academy Awards has been shortlisted. The nominations in all categories will be announced on January 23, with the awards ceremony taking place on March 10, airing live on ABC.
The film tracks Charlie (Goorjian), who returns to Armenia in 1948 — decades after fleeing to the U.S. as a child, due to persecution by the Ottoman Empire, and finds a country crushed under Soviet rule. After being unjustly imprisoned, he falls into despair, until he discovers that he can see into a nearby apartment from his cell window – the home of a prison guard. As his life unexpectedly becomes entwined with the man’s, he begins to see that the true spirit of his homeland is alive in its passionate people.
