Deadline expects Armenia’s submission Amerikatsi directed by Michael A. Goorjian to make the Oscar shortlist for Best International Feature Film.
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.
“There are moments that are sensitive, thoughtful, and really quite moving — in an elegant, silent-movie way — but the framing is so dark in its humor that many viewers may never make it to them,” Deadline writes.
“It takes time to find your own voice, but with Amerikatsi, I have done my best to make something true to myself and my Armenian heritage in the spirit of independent cinema,” says Michael A. Goorjian.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce shortlists in several categories, including International Feature Film, on Friday, December 21. Voting is currently open and closes on Monday, December 18 at 5pm PT.