Two Aberdeen filmmakers are in line to clinch the industry’s most prestigious accolade thanks to their latest production filmed in the north-east.
Chris Robb and Hassan Nazer’s critically acclaimed creation, Utopia, was filmed in the Granite City as well as locations thousands of miles away in Afghanistan and India.
The movie has already been chosen to represent Afghanistan in the foreign language category at the next Oscars.
And now its leading lady, Malalai Zikria, has been named ‘Best Actress’ at the Asian World Film Festival.
With the publicity raised from the award win and commendations from numerous famed Hollywood filmmakers, the pair hope their movie can steal some of the spotlight from other, bigger budget contenders in the eyes of the Academy Awards jury.
Mr Robb, a former pupil at Cults Academy, said: “Some of the other films budgets for their Oscar campaigns are about five times the budget we had for our movie, which gives you an idea of what we’re up against.”
Mr Robb and Mr Nazer have just arrived back in the UK from Los Angeles, where they attended numerous glitzy showbusiness screenings to promote their film.
Mr Robb said: “We created a good buzz about Utopia and received a lot of good feedback from everybody that saw it, including previous Oscar winners like screenwriter Bobby Moresco, who won an Oscar for Crash.
“We’re also hosting a Golden Globe screening on December 2, and on the 8th we’re up for two awards at the Deli film festival.
“We’re trying to put our name out there as much as possible and improve the visibility of the film so that it’s in front of the Academy voters.”
The multi-language Utopia, which features Dari, Hindi as well as English, tells the story of an Afghan woman who travels to the UK to receive artificial insemination.
However, complications arise when a member of staff at the fertility clinic swaps the donor’s semen for his own, and the woman discovers he is from a family steeped in the military history of her homeland.
The 88th Academy Awards will take place on February 28.