Mati Diop's​ ​'Atlantics' Has Been Shortlisted for an Oscar

Deadline reports that Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop's Atlantics has recently been shortlisted for an Oscar in the category of "International Feature Film". The film, along with nine others from France, Czech Republic, South Korea, Spain and several other countries, was selected from a pool of 91 eligible films submitted from across the globe.

It's been an incredible year for Diop as her directorial debut continues to collect numerous nominations and awards.

Now that the film has landed on the shortlist of what was previously known as the "Foreign Language Film" category, it will progress to the nominations round where Academy members will vote on the winning film on condition that they have watched all the shortlisted films.

Atlantics has been described as a "ghost love story" which tells the haunted story of migration through the real-life experiences of Senegalese migrants who made the dangerous journey to Spain in search of better opportunities for themselves and their families.

Following a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), OkayAfricacontributor Anya Wassenberg described the film saying, "Diop's directorial vision turns Dakar into a place of both surreal magic and harsh reality". Wassenberg adds that, "The film immerses the audience in the city's sounds, from the goats bleating outside a window while Ada and her friends talk, to voices in the next room, with the eternal heaving of waves against the shore as a recurring refrain."

Earlier this month, Diop took home the win for "Best First Film" at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards and went on to score a nomination at the 2020 Critics Choice Awards in the category of "Best Foreign Language Film". In May of this year, Atlantics also snagged the Grand Prix award at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Diop was not only the first Black woman to be included in the competition, but also the first to take home a top prize.