LOS ANGELES -Nepal has proposed “Jhola” directed by Yadav Kumar Battarai as its contender for the foreign-language Academy Awards category.
The film is rooted in the no longer adhered to Hindu tradition in which a woman would have to kill herself through self-immolation upon her husband’s death. It features a beautiful woman whose husband is 40 years older and dies before her. Despite having to leave her young son as an orphan, she throws herself on her husband’s funeral pyre, but survives and hides in the forest.
“Jhola” is only the sixth film to be entered into the Oscar race by the isolated Himalayan nation. Last year it put forward “Soongava: Dance of the Orchids.” Its first contender, Eric Valli’s “Caravan” secured a nomination in the 2009 race.
Submissions for the foreign-language prize close on Oct. 1 this year, with nominations announced on Jan. 15, 2015, ahead of the awards ceremony on Feb. 22, 2015.
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