Academy rules cause confusion
There is great anticipation ahead of the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 7.
Europe is pinning most of its hopes on multi-European production The White Ribbon [+see also:
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The European countries most concerned are Germany (see news), the UK (see news about nominations and industry reactions), France (see news), Denmark (see news) and Spain, with Penélope Cruz’s nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Nine.
Besides the fact that the national "committees" often don’t select the best film but the one that "could appeal to US viewers", many American observers have remarked on the confusion generated by the rules for selecting nominees for Best Foreign Language Film.
The films are divided into four groups. An Academy member taking part in the selection process pledges to see at least 80% of the films in their group, in a movie theatre or at the Academy screenings. Only the older members have that kind of time on their hands, and this explains certain more conservative choices.
The nominees, which foreign-language film committee chairman Mark Johnson last year decided to narrow down to nine, are two-thirds selected by voting members and one third by a committee comprising US director Curtis Hanson, Polish-born US-based DoP Janusz Kaminski and German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (winner of an Oscar for The Lives of Others [+see also:
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A further committee whittles down the nominees to five and things get more complicated when it comes to the vote by all 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, who often haven’t even seen the films. We can only hope that the best one wins.
(Translated from Italian)
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