On Oct. 17, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced 61 movies will be in contention for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2010 Academy Awards. And once again, there was controversy.
Year after year, the academy ignores proposals to change the nomination process for Best Foreign Language Film. The academy is focused tradition and keeping a system that has been used since 1956.
Although awards for the category have been handed out since 1947, the traditional five nominees were not used until 1956. Since then, the eligibility standards for the category have become more vigorous and ridiculous. Not only is it difficult to become eligible, it is equally difficult to become nominated.
According to the rules, each country gets one submission for the category. This has not only created controversy with the academy, but within foreign countries as well. While some have praised the rule because it includes smaller countries, it also excludes bigger markets from submitting quality films.
In 2007, France was presented with this dilemma. With two great films to choose from, it opted to submit “Persepolis” instead of “La Vie en Rose.” “Persepolis” went on to get snubbed in both the foreign and animated film categories, while “La Vie en Rose” won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Similarly, Spain excluded “Talk to Her” in 2002 but it went on to win the Best Original Screenplay award.
The process of choosing one film has sparked accusations of favoritism and political ties as well. Since winning the Best Foreign Language Film award in 1990 for “Cinema Paradiso,” director Giuseppe Tornatore has represented Italy three times. His film “Baaria” was chosen this year and accusations of political ties with the Italian Film Commission broke out, especially since Marco Bellocchio’s “Vincere” has been met with critical acclaim and several awards.
Another eligibility requirement is the movie must be released in its respective country in a commercial theater for seven consecutive days. Second, the film must be released before Sept. 30, while the deadline for American films is December 31. Both of these rules are problems for low-budget films that cannot make it into commercial theaters. Also, it creates an unnecessary deadline for foreign directors to meet.
In 2008, a Swedish film called “Let the Right One” In was released on Sept. 24 in order to meet the deadline. This bothered the Swedish Film Institute and it chose Jan Troell’s “Everlasting Moments” instead. The producers immediately pulled “Let the Right One In” from theaters. Afterwards, the film went onto become an international success and was one of the most critically acclaimed foreign films of the year. The producers of the movie rode its success and decided to release it again in 2009. While the film was eligible again, Sweden opted to ignore the movie because it had already been nominated once.
The academy presents the award to the winning movie’s country, not the film itself. This is contradicting because the movie’s eligibility depends on its language, not what country it represents. Movies set in other countries but use English as its primary language are ineligible for nomination, which was seen in 2007 with the Israeli film “The Band’s Visit.” In fact, some films have been disqualified because they did not represent a country at all. In 2002, “Divine Intervention” went unconsidered because the movie represented Palenstine, which is not a state the academy recognizes.
The problems for this category need to be addressed and the rules need to be revamped. First, the academy must allow countries to submit more than one film. This will alleviate countries’ decisions on which films to choose and make the category more competitive. Second, the academy needs to discontinue its current deadline. This will give smaller movies more time to find commercial venues and become eligible for nomination. Also, filmmakers will not be rushed to meet a deadline and release a film before it is ready. Finally, a film should be eligible for nomination even if its primary language is English, which will suit the director and help represent the country as well.
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