Armenia’s entry makes Oscars shortlist for first time

The film joins 13 others vying for a slot in the Best International Film category, Asbarez reported.

This the first instance that Armenia’s entry to the Academy Awards has been shortlisted. The nominations in all categories will be announced on January 23, with the awards ceremony taking place on March 10, airing live on ABC.

“Amerikatsi” centers on Charlie (Goorjian), who returns to the country in 1948 — decades after fleeing to the U.S. as a child, due to persecution by the Ottoman Empire. What he finds in doing so is a country crushed under Soviet rule. And after being unjustly imprisoned, Charlie falls into despair, until he discovers that he can see into a nearby apartment from his cell window — the home of a prison guard. As his life unexpectedly becomes entwined with the man’s, he begins to see that the true spirit of his homeland is alive in its passionate people.