‘Birdshot’ joins Oscar race as PHL's official entry in Foreign Language Film category

How high will "Birdshot" fly in the Academy Awards?

Film Academy of the Philippines Secretary General Leo Martinez confirmed to PEP.ph via a text message that Mikhail Red's film will be representing the country at the 2018 Oscars.

The Philippines has yet to receive an official nomination from the Academy Awards despite submitting strong films like "Transit", "Norte: Hangganan ng Kasaysayan", "Heneral Luna", and "Ma' Rosa."

"Birdshot" will be competing with other notable films like "First They Killed My Father" (Cambodia, Angelina Jolie), "Her Love Boils Water" (Japan, Ryouta Nakano),  and "Thelma" (Norway, Joachim Trier) for the final five slots.

The list will first be narrowed down to nine later in the year, before the official nominees are announced early 2018.

"Birdshot" won Best Picture in the Asian Future category at the 2016 Tokyo International Film Festival.

The film follows the consequences of a shot fired by Maya (Mary Joy Apostol), an incident that forces her path to cross with two cops (John Arcilla, Arnold Reyes) who are discouraged from investigating the disappearance of a bus in the middle of the night.

Read: ‘Birdshot’ takes aim at moral dilemmas

The 2018 Academy Awards is scheduled to be held on March 4, 2018.