Leaders of the Tasveer South Asian Film Festival are celebrating their newly announced status as an Oscar-qualifying festival.
Rita Meher, co-founder of the Seattle-area event, received official word from the Motion Picture Academy on Wednesday that Tasveer “has been approved as an Academy-qualifying festival on the Short Films Qualifying Festival List.” Per the Academy’s letter to Meher, “Short films that receive your Best Short Film award may now be eligible to enter the Short Films competition for the concurrent season, provided that the films meet all the requirements set forth in our official rules for that season which can be found at www.oscars.org/rules.” According to a release from Tasveer, it’s the first time a South Asian film festival has earned the Oscar-qualifying distinction. “We are ecstatic to announce this incredible milestone,” said Meher, the festival’s executive director and fo-founder. “We have always believed in the power of South Asian stories and this achievement means that these stories will now be recognized on one of the world’s most respected cinematic stages.
This is a monumental step forward for South Asian cinema.” The festival attributed “this momentous achievement to the relentless efforts and hard work of Rita Meher, including Ariel Brownstein, whose contributions have played an integral part in this journey.
TSAFF also wishes to express profound gratitude to Richa Rudola, Fawzia Mirza, and Srihari Sathe, for their support in this process.” Meher noted, “This is a testament to the collective efforts of a community that believes in the power of South Asian narratives.
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