You may or may not have heard earlier today that there have been a few tweaks in the rules and eligibility from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Effective from the next awards run, reflecting the best in film over the year 2019, and approved by the Board of Governors, the 92nd Academy Awards will show a few minor alterations.
Perhaps the change that leaps off the page first, is the Best Foreign Language Film award, which is now beaming with a brand new title: Best International Feature Film. There have been rumbles for some time about the exclusion suggested by the “Foreign” rather than, say, “non-English Language”. AMPAS have gone their own way, and it is a vast improvement.
The rules for this category have not changed, other than during Phase I of the voting procedure, the International Feature Film Committee will put forward a shortlist of ten rather than nine. Phase II remains static, with the shortlisted films viewed and voted for in secret, to be eventually whittled down to the five nominees.
Speaking of which, the Best Makeup and Hairstyling category will join the rest of the pack in having the five films nominated, instead of the previous three. Only the Best Picture line-up differs as per usual, with the preferential system allowing between five and ten nominated films.
And in that, as the streaming debate continues (though it has died down of late), films distributed by, say, Netflix, needn’t feel marginalised in the near future according to Academy rules. With the continuation of the eligibility clause stating that films must be publicly exhibited in a movie theater in Los Angeles, for a run of at least seven consecutive days. Meaning that the Romas can be seen in cinemas and thus be bona fide Oscar consideration.
And like Roma, the international films are still able to vie for other categories, including Best Picture. “As long as they contain English language subtitles.” Which I would say is a given to English audiences. If you do read the rules in full, you’ll also notice they remind us, “ACCURATE, LEGIBLE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE SUBTITLES ARE REQUIRED” – no need to shout, sir.
Other points of interest? Some might be baffled by the definition of Best Original Musical (alongside Best Original Score and Best Original Song). Re-tune your alarm bells for the meantime, for this particular award has not been handed out since 1984. You might need to wake up the Music Branch Executive Committee to the Board of Governors on this one.