Indian-American director duo's film gets nominated for Oscars 2020

St Louis Superman, a documentary film by two Indian American filmmakers Smriti Mudhra and Sami Khan, has earned an Oscar nod in the best documentary short subject category at Oscars. The critically-acclaimed film profiles activist Bruce Franks Jr’s journey to becoming a state lawmaker, is among the five titles contending for an Academy award.

Other titles include In the Absence, Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl), Life Overtakes Me and Walk Run Cha-Cha. Franks, Jr rose to prominence during the protests following the police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014. He was elected to two terms in the Missouri House of Representatives starting in 2016 but resigned citing mental health struggles.

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap congratulated the filmmakers on their film’s nomination. “Congratulations for the Oscar nomination,” Kashyap tweeted, tagging Mundhra after the nominations were announced on Monday.

Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Marriage Story, Parasite, Marriage Story and 1917 are vying for best picture this year.

This year’s awards ceremony will take place on February 9 without any host.