Indian-American filmmakers score Oscar nomination

Indian-American filmmakers Sami Khan (extreme left) and Smriti Mundhra (second from left) have received an Oscar nomination for their film St. Louis Superman, based on former Missouri Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. (second from right). Photo courtesy: Twitter/@pohsi
Indian-American filmmakers Sami Khan (extreme left) and Smriti Mundhra (second from left) have received an Oscar nomination for their film St. Louis Superman, based on former Missouri Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. (second from right). Photo courtesy: Twitter/@pohsi

Indian-American filmmakers Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan's St. Louis Superman has been nominated in the category of Documentary Short Subject at the 92nd Academy Awards. 

The 33-minute documentary film is about former Missouri Rep. Bruce Franks, Jr. and his journey from an activist to a lawmaker.

Congratulations began to pour in for the duo, with Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap among the first to tweet after the nominations list was unveiled in Los Angeles on Monday.

The film will compete for the award against In the Absence, Learning To Skateboard in A Warzone, Life Overtakes Me and Walk Run Cha-Cha

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St. Louis Superman, from MTV Documentary films, follows the story of 34-year-old activist and battle rapper, who was elected to the overwhelmingly white and Republican Missouri House of Representatives. It examines how he deals with the personal trauma of having witnessed his 9-year-old brother shot and killed in front of him, as well as political obstacles to pass a critical bill for his community.

https://twitter.com/brucefranksjr/status/1216758809529483265

St. Louis Superman is directed and produced by Mundhra and Khan. The film won the jury prize for the Best Documentary Short at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the Audience Award for the Best Short at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, the Audience Award for the Best Short at AFI Docs, and the Special Jury Mention at the Tribeca Film Festival.