Malayalam blockbuster 2018 by Director Jude Anthany Joseph did not secure a spot on the Oscars shortlist for the Best International Feature category. Despite this setback, the filmmaker thoroughly enjoyed presenting his film to the jury. Looking ahead, he aspires to submit a movie with stronger financial support as India’s official entry for the Oscars. Alternatively, he hopes for financial assistance from the government of India to support the film’s Oscars campaign.
In a recent interview with Galatta Plus, Joseph revealed that his 2018 film garnered a lot of praise from audiences in the US when it was screened as part of the Oscar campaign. He said, “It’s a wonderful journey at the Oscars. To meet people there and screen your own film for the members there and to talk to them and get feedback from them, that’s an awesome feeling as a filmmaker. I just loved it and I am thankful to the people of India to watch my film.”
The director also mentioned that people were surprised to hear that he made the film with only $3 million. “People loved the film and they asked me how I shot it. For them, $3 million is nothing, but for a Malayalam film, it’s a huge budget. So, when I told them that the film was shot in $3 million, they were like, ‘How did you manage?’ I told them, ‘That’s how we shoot films in India, we have budget constraints’,” the filmmaker said.
2018 is a disaster drama centered on the Kerala floods that occurred in the same year. Starring actors like Tovino Thomas, Kunchako Boban, Lal, and others, the film emerged as one of the most successful Malayalam dramas, grossing around Rs 200 crore worldwide.
Jude Anthany Joseph detailed the process of attracting attention to your film at the Oscars. The initial step involves hiring a publicist who shapes the subsequent stages of the journey and devises a strategy to maintain buzz around the film.
“We have to get a publicist first and he will plan the things like screening with reception, screening without reception. Then, you have to give an advertisement in the magazine that is highly costly as it costs 15,000 dollars for a single page ad and you have to give 15-20 ads there. Producers have to think before that I am going to spend crores of money only on advertising. After that, you have to meet so many people. The publicist told me, ‘Even if they loved the film, they have to love you. So, after the screening you have to be very…’ shared Joseph.
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