Bhubaneswar: Nila Madhab Panda’s first Odia movie ‘Kalira Atita’, is out of the Oscars 2021 race.
Panda took to Twitter to congratulate all the nominees and said that he would continue to talk about climate issues through his movie.
And the Oscar nomination is here. We are out of the race. But will continue talk on climate issues through Kalira Atita , thank you everyone for your love and support. ??. Congratulations all nominees. Good luck.#OscarNoms
— Nila Madhab PANDA ନୀଳମାଧବ ପଣ୍ଡା (@nilamadhabpanda) March 15, 2021
The film revolves around the life of a man from Odisha’s Satavaya village in Kendrapada district, which has been swallowed by the rising sea level. Pitobash Tripathy plays the protagonist in this film, through whom the filmmaker has expressed his own trauma of witnessing the ferocious sea gobble up village after village.
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Inspired by the prophecies of Achyutnanda Das, a 16th-century saint from Odisha, it highlights the issue of climate change and how people are losing their lives and livelihood because of it.
‘Kalira Atita’ was caught in a row with many media houses accusing Panda of making false and misleading claims about it being in the Oscars race since it was not an official entry from India.
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He clarified with a statement: “I have made an entry to this year’s Oscar General Entry Category by following all the Academy’s rules and guidelines. The film has been duly approved by the Committee and is now available in the Academy Screening Room (ASR) for the Jury Screening.”
The film will have its world premiere at the 28th Prague International Film Festival, FEBIOFEST, scheduled from April 29 to May 7.
