Sanjay’s Production to Screen at Golden Globes: What That Means

Sanjay Dutt’s Marathi production ‘Baba’ is screening at the Globes.

A poster for Baba (L), Sanjay Dutt (R).

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

On Friday 2 August, news outlets reported that Sanjay Dutt’s production Baba was going to be screened at the Golden Globe awards and that the film was “officially selected for screening at the Golden Globes for competing in the Foreign Language category.”

Sanjay’s wife and Baba co-producer Maanayata Dutt released a statement saying,

“We are all so happy and proud that ‘Baba’ will be screened at the Golden Globes. Our goal is to create meaningful yet entertaining cinema through ‘Baba’. The movie released today and we hope the audiences receive the film with their love and support.”

Maanayata Dutt

While many saw this as a proud moment for Indian cinema and a cause to celebrate, others were confused as to what a screening at the Golden Globes entails. It appears that Baba is going to host a screening for Golden Globe qualification, but that is not the same as being selected.

Here’s a short primer to clarify the situation, courtesy The Quint.

The Golden Globe Awards are selected and given out by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). To qualify for the Globes’ Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language category, a film needs to meet certain basic requirements. One of those is that an screening of the film in Los Angeles must be organised by the filmmakers for the HFPA members, after which the film can be entered officially for Globes consideration.

Once the film has met all requirements, the makers receive notice that their film has qualified for the Golden Globes. Every year hundreds of films, if not more, qualify for the awards. However, this is far from being selected or nominated for an award. For the 2020 Golden Globes, the nomination and voting process has not even begun. That happens in November, when each HFPA member votes for their top five choices in each category. The final Golden Globe nominations are announced in December.

What does this mean for Baba? Well, what is likely is that filmmakers have organised a screening of the film for the HFPA so that they consider it for a Golden Globe. After this screening the film will be qualified for the awards. But there’s still a long way to go before it gets selected or receives a nomination.