In an article entitled ?
Courting the Academy, Not Audiences,? The New York Times reports today on the complicated process for documentary films to qualify for the Academy Awards by playing one week theatrical runs in both Manhattan and Los Angeles before August 31. This stipulation has long been hugely problematic for documentary makers, especially for docs planning to open in fall like this year?s TIFF entry
Religulous. In order to qualify for the Oscars,
Religulous was forced into a costly and wasteful qualifying run in obscure locations before August 31. The intent was for no one to see those shows since the distributor Lion?s Gate understandably wants to hold back their publicity for the film?s official release in October.
These rules are very specific and punitive to documentaries. When it comes to fiction films, they can still open as late as Christmas Day and qualify ? as opposed to August. The Academy explains that a special timetable is necessary for docs because the genre is evaluated by a small board of screeners during the fall to arrive at November?s short list of 15 or so titles. Here at TIFF, we?ve had ongoing conversations with the Academy urging them to change these rules. Our proposal is that the Academy can still use August 31 as a deadline for filmmakers to submit their DVD for review, but documentaries should have until the end of the year to fulfill the terms of theatrical play, just as fiction films are allowed to do.
The New York Times article contains a dismaying quote from Bruce Davis, the executive director of the Academy:
?There used to be 60,? he said, referring to the number of documentary entries. ?We?re scared to death that this year we?ll have more than 100.?
Scared? My contrary opinion is that it?s exhilarating to see such a rise in documentary production. To me, the number 100 sounds like a puny figure, given that major documentary film festivals receive anywhere from 500 to 1000 documentary submissions. If you take only the highly competitive festivals of TIFF and Sundance, their combined total of docs selected numbers close to 80. In addition, there are dozens more docs premiering in esteemed North American venues such as SXSW, Full Frame, Hot Docs, Tribeca, Silverdocs, and LAFF. By that measure of competitive selection, 100 submissions to the Academy suggests that a lot of worthy titles are being left out.
We can only hope that Davis? quote is taken somewhat out of context; and that the Academy is prepared to adapt itself to the changing output of documentaries rather than force doc production to conform to the Academy. Later this fall, the documentary branch of the Academy is expected to meet to discuss changes to its guidelines. In my extensive conversations within the documentary community this summer, I found unanimous consensus from over 100 filmmakers that they want this Aug 31 deadline for theatrical exhibition to change. Let?s hope the Academy listens to their message.
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