A change in already Arcane Academy Awards rules and politics have made it so Ari Folman’s animated look at the 1983 Beirut massacre, “Waltz With Bashir,” won’t be eligible to run in the Best Documentary Film Oscar category according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Evidently the change stipulates that a documentary “requires a one-week qualifying run in New York by Aug. 31,” which has rendered Folman’s much-buzzed about (and excellent) documentary ineligible.
This is a shame. ‘Waltz’ is a fantastic and powerful documentary, but considering the way Academy rules seem ancient, rigid and out-of-step, it’s not entirely shocking.
“I can’t understand why the Academy is making it even more difficult for documentaries by saying you need some kind of shadow release,” New York Film Festival head Richard Pena said (the film is screening at NYFF currently). “I don’t see how this policy helps the greater good of cinema.”
And how. Under the previous rules, “a doc had to be screened for one week in either Los Angeles or New York, while also logging 14 three-day bookings in at least 10 states,” according to THR.
“It’s always been disastrous to make films qualify in August,” said Toronto International Film Festival documentary chair Thom Powers, another industry figure calling for change. “The New York aspect makes it worse.”