n 2023, Pakistan is celebrating a landmark year. It is the year where Pakistan is celebrating a decade of the existence of the Pakistan Oscar Committee, which was hea-ded for a decade by two-time Oscar winner, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

As she steps down and makes way for another Pakistani filmmaker to take over the position of chair-person, most likely to be Moha-mmed Ali Naqvi, according to a press statement, let us not forget what was achieved under SOC’s tenure.

Noted a press statement, “She oversaw nine International Feature Film Academy Award submissions from Pakistan and galvanized, curated and led nine independent Oscar consideration committees for Pakistani film, comprising of some of South Asia’s most compelling film critics, producers, screenwriters, directors, actors and other stake-holders of film.”

The Pakistan Oscar Committee was established under Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy in 2013, when the Pakistani film revival had just started gaining some momentum.

During one interview with Instep earlier in 2023, SOC explained certain parameters of the committee such as how films are selected in the first place.

As SOC noted, the first step is submission of the film. And it is also curious but most filmmakers do not submit their film to the committee, possibly because of the self-aware-ness that they do not possess the kind of cinematic material that will appeal to the committee in context of Oscar nods.

As a result, only three to four films are submitted in the first place. The committee is not bound to watch every film by heading to a cinema.

Only three or four films that are Oscar material are submitted and within those films, the jury makes a final call.

Talking to Instep earlier in the year about the inner workings of the Pakistan Oscar Committee, she had explained, “Firstly, Pakistan only creates three to four films [although that number has improved some-what] in a single year.

“Out of those three to four films, filmmakers know that some are just not qualified to be submitted or have a chance to get selected at the Oscars. We get three entries in a year at best. In those films, you know very early on which film is going to make it because as a committee, we want to put the best of Pakistan forward. The fact that Joyland was shortlisted is an enor-mous achievement for a country like Pakistan.”

Under Sharmeen’s tenure, the Pakistan Oscar Committee has ope-rated as an independent body in the country.

Explaining what makes a film eligible, the two-time Oscar winner had told Instep: “It sends films that we as a country are proud of and now the committee is in its tenth year. We’ve sent a film every year barring one year where we didn’t have a film to send. If you look at the films sent each year, you realize that it is a film that should have been sent.”

What this change means for the Pakistan Oscar Committee remains to be seen.