KABUL, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- An Afghan film "Buzkashi Boys" was short-listed in the Live Action Short Film category at the Academy Awards, local media reported Friday.
"Ariel Nasr who produced the film Buzkashi Boys was nominated for an Academy Award in the live action short category. He said he was exited with the nomination," local media Khaama Press reported.
"Set against the dramatic landscape of contemporary Afghanistan and the National sport of Buzkashi -- a brutal game of horse polo played with a dead goat -- Buzkashi Boys tells the coming of age story of two best friends, a charismatic street urchin and a defiant blacksmith's son, who struggle to realize their dreams as they make their way to manhood in one of the most war-torn countries on Earth," the report said.
The movie attracted considerable viewers outside the country and it was also widely welcomed inside the country where its film industry was totally damaged due to decades of civil war, the report said.
The film, which was produced with a joint international and Afghan crew, recently won best drama at the LA Shorts Fest, which made the film eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award, it said.
Buzkashi Boys was directed by American Sam French and is one of the first major movie productions in Afghanistan since the downfall of Taliban in 2001. The film was produced through the Afghani Film Project, a non-profit organization that hopes to create a viable and sustainable film industry in Afghanistan, the report said.
"We're hoping this will bring some attention to film makers in Afghanistan and films made in Afghanistan," Nasr was quoted by the report as saying.
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