What Will People Say is ready for an Oscar nomination
Iram Haq’s Amanda-awarded feature will be Norway’s candidate for the 2019 Oscar as Best Foreign-Language Film.
Norwegian director Iram Haq’s second feature What Will People Say (Hva vil folk si) will be Norway’s bid for the Oscar nomination as Best Foreign-Language Film – the Norwegian Oscar Committee announced its choice yesterday (Tuesday, 4 September) from a shortlist of candidates also incuding Tuva Novotny’s Blind Spot (Blindsone) and Erik Poppe’s U – July 22 (Utøya 22. juli).Social control
What Will People Say portrays 16-year-old Nisha (Maria Mozhdah), who lives with her Pakistani parents in Norway; there are two sides - at home she is the perfect Pakistani daughter, but when she is in town with friends, she is a normal Norwegian teenager. When her father discovers her with a boyfriend, she is sent to live with family in Pakistan, where she has never been before.
Personal experiences
The film is based on personal experiences. “When I was 14, I was more or less kidnapped by my parents and forced to live for one and a half years in Pakistan. It was a rough experience since I was there not by my own will. But except for kidnapping, the film is fiction,” explained Haq, whose feature debut, I Am Yours (Jeg er din/2013) was also Norway’s Oscar candidate.
“The director's timely relevant description of loss of liberty through social control means that the film concerns many people where relocations create conflicts across religious, social and generational expectations. We think Haq’s strong film will do well in competition with the best from around the world,” said the Norwegian committee, chaired over by Norwegian Film Institute ceo Sindre Guldvog.
Prize winner
Produced by Maria Ekerhovd for Mer Film, What Will People Say was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2017 before its Norwegian launch on 8 October. Last month (August) it received four Amandas, Norway’s national film prize, for Best Feature, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director (both Haq) and Best Actor (Adil Hussain).
Every country can propose a title for the Best Foreign-Language Film category, which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will reduce to six from 1 October. An executive committee will add three, and two committees will select the five nominations for the 22 January 2019 announcement. The winner will be named at the 24 February 2019 Oscar ceremony.