Sandhya Suri’s Santosh has been selected as the UK entry for the best international feature Oscar award, as confirmed by Bafta on behalf of the UK Selection Committee.
Suri’s fiction feature debut premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year. The UK is the current holder of the international feature award, having won its first such prize in February this year with Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest.
Santosh is a crime thriller in which the eponymous newly-widowed woman inherits her husband’s job as a police constable, and begins an investigation under the wing of a charismatic feminist inspector.
The film is produced by James Bowsher and Mike Goodridge for the UK’s Good Chaos with France’s Balthazar de Ganay and Alan McAlex for India’s Suitable Pictures. France’s mk2 Films handles sales, with Metrograph Pictures acquiring US rights and Haut et Court set to release in France. Executive producers are Ama Ampadu, Eva Yates, Diarmid Scrimshaw, Lucia Haslauer and Martin Gerhard.
The Hindi-language film was backed by the BFI, BBC Film, ZDF/Arte and CNC.
Suri was named a Screen Star of Tomorrow in 2023, with Bowsher receiving the accolade in 2024.
To be eligible for the award, the film must be a British feature with more than 51% non-English language dialogue, released theatrically anywhere outside of the US no earlier than November 1, 2023 and no later than September 30, 2024.
The UK Selection Committee are all members or representatives of Bafta’s Film Committee. The former group attend a meeting to discuss all eligible titles; select a shortlist; and vote by secret ballot.
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