Roast Beef, Redstart and Kaboora Productions’ Afghan Star has been selected as the UK’s official Academy Award foreign language submission.

The documentary will vie for the ultimate prize after it was chosen by the British Academy Of Film And Television Arts and boasts good good pedigree, having won the directing and audience awards at Sundance earlier in the year.

Afghan Star was released in the US by Zeitgeist Films and follows a band of plucky contestants in Afghan Star, a version of American Idol in Afghanistan. The film was funded by Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and More4.

Havana Marking directed the film and trains her sights on two men and two women as they risk their lives to become the nation’s favourite performer.