Entrants to Academy Award for best documentary will now need to have been reviewed in the New York or Los Angeles Times
The arcane processes by which films qualify for Oscar consideration took a bizarre twist today when it was revealed that, as of next year,
documentaries will need to have been reviewed in the New York Times or Los Angeles Times to qualify.
The New York Times itself broke the news after rumours began circulating last week. No specifics were forthcoming on whether both print and online reviews would be suitable, or whether "capsule" reviews would qualify. But "reviews by television critics were specifically ruled out".
The move seems to be aimed at reducing the number of documentaries submitted for consideration (124 in 2011) while also lessening the influence of qualifying events such as the
DocuWeeks festival, which has proved adept at enabling lesser-known films to enter the race.
The Academy is also presumably concerned that acclaimed films such as
The Interrupters,
Senna,
Into the Abyss and, further back,
Capitalism: A Love Story,
Hoop Dreams and
Crumb were denied Oscar nominations.
However, handing a decisive vote to film critics will lay the Academy open to charges they are handing control to an outside organisation, militating against non-distributed, low-budget films, and reinforcing the American bias of the awards.
Meanwhile, another of the Academy's rules – which allows for scripts of qualifying films to be sent to members – caused a hiccup in the
J Edgar campaign when
a "continuity draft" was sent out instead of the final shooting script.
Writer Dustin Lance Black was reportedly upset over the glitch but swift action by studio Warner Bros appears to have calmed matters down.
Andrew Pulver
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Oscar for best documentary hopefuls to face newspaper review rule
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