British-Indian director Sandhya Suri’s Santosh has been selected for the shortlist for the Best International Feature Film at the 2025 Academy Awards. The film, the U.K.’s official entry, is one of just 15 films chosen from 85 global submissions. India’s entry, Laapataa Ladies, directed by Kiran Rao, did not make the shortlist. Other films included in the list are I’m Still Here (Brazil), Universal Language (Canada), Waves (Czech Republic), and Emilia Perez (France), among others.
Santosh stars Shahana Goswami as a young Hindu widow who becomes a police constable through a government program and faces institutional corruption. She works alongside a tough veteran detective, Inspector Geeta Sharma (played by Sunita Rajwar), on a murder case involving a Dalit teenager. The film won two British Independent Film Awards for Best Screenplay and Breakthrough Producers and had its global premiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
Director Suri, known for her work in documentaries, originally intended for Santosh to explore the violence against women and corruption within India’s police force. However, the brutal 2012 gang rape and murder of Jyoti Singh in Delhi, known as the Nirbhaya case, reshaped her approach to the story. Suri’s narrative shifted to focus on female police officers navigating the challenges of a corrupt system and societal expectations.
Following its theatrical release in France, Santosh is set for a U.S. release on December 27, 2024, and will premiere in the UK in March 2025. The nominations for the 2025 Academy Awards will be revealed on January 17, 2025.
