Romanian Corruption Film, Srebrenica Drama Shortlisted for Oscars

Two stories from the Balkans, told by a Romanian-born man and a Bosnian woman have been put on a shortlist of 15 films in the Best International Feature category for the upcoming Oscars, the US Academy Awards said in a statement on Tuesday evening.

'Collective', a documentary by German-Romanian director Alexander Nanau, was also put on the shortlist in the Best Feature Documentary category.

It traces a journalistic exposé unravelling the systemic corruption in Romanian hospitals in the wake of the fire at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest in 2015.

The blaze caused the deaths of 65 concert-goers and revealed major shortcomings in the country's public healthcare system.

Bosnian film-maker Jasmila Zbanic's drama 'Quo Vadis Aida?' tells the story of a young Bosnian woman working as a translator for UN peacekeeping troops as Bosnian Serb forces seized Srebrenica in July 1995, and trying to save her family from the impending massacres.

Both films have been widely praised by critics. 'Collective', which also depicts the wave of indignation in Romania caused by the deaths of some of the blaze survivors who were subsequently infected in hospitals, has been commended for its brutal honesty.

Its director made headlines in January when he refused to be decorated by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, over the lack of support from the state to artists during the current pandemic crisis.

"So, it would be very wrong, from my side, to go and let them pin a medal on my chest, effectively saying that, 'Actually, Romanian culture is doing fine'," Nanau told US magazine Variety.

Meanwhile Bosnian director Zbanic told US publication The Wrap in January that she wanted to tell the story of what happened in...