MANILA, Philippines — The Ramona Diaz documentary "And So It Begins" has been selected as the Philippines' entry to the 97th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
Raymond Diamzon, a special projects officer at the Film Academy of the Philippines, shared photos on social media of Diaz receiving a certificate confirming "And So It Begins" would be the country's Oscars entry next year.
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This marks the first time in 35 submissions dating back to 1950's "Genghis Khan" (submitted for the 1954 Oscars) that the Philippines is entering a documentary to the Academy Awards.
It also follows the historic submission of Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2023 Best Film winner "Iti Mapukpukaw" starring Carlo Aquino and Dolly de Leon when it became the country's first animated submission last year.
Like past Philippines entries however "Iti Mapukpukaw" did not make the shortlist and the 2024 Oscar for Best International Feature Film eventually went to the United Kingdom's "The Zone of Interest" about the family of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss.
This is also just the fourth time a Philippine entry was directed by a woman, this after the late Marilou Diaz-Abaya (who had three submissions in "Karnal," "Milagros," and "Sa Pusod ng Dagat"), Rory Quintos for "Anak," and Hannah Espia for "Transit."
"And So It Begins" revolves around the grassroots "pink" movement of former vice president Leni Robredo during her presidential bid at the 2022 national elections as well as journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa in her continuous fight for press freedom.
Ressa was the subject of Diaz's previous documentary "A Thousand Cuts" about the state of journalism under former president Rodrigo Duterte, and serves as a companion piece to "And So It Begins."
The documentary debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year then made its local premiere at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival last month.
It also screened in select cinemas around the country despite Diaz initially saying "And So It Begins" was supposed to have a wide release.
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines an international film as a "feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the United States of America and its territories with a predominantly (over 50%) non-English dialogue track," with animated and documentary films allowed in the category.
Selected international films for the 2025 Oscars must have been initially released in the country of origin between Nov. 1, 2023 and Sept. 30, 2024, and be first publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial movie theater for the profit of the producer and exhibitor.
"And So It Begins" can still compete in other Oscars categories like Best Picture and Best Documentary, if it campaigns for them.
The shortlist of nominees for several Oscars categories including Best International Feature Film will be announced on December 17, then the final five nominees will be announced a month later.
The 97th Academy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on March 2, 2025 (the 3rd in the Philippines).
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