"Friends, commies, liars, thieves,imbeciles, trade unionists, trial lawyers and homosexuals"
Lend me your ears.
Posted on 08/04/2004 3:10:45 PM PDT by swilhelm73
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A recent broadcast on Cuban television of Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" has raised questions about the Oscar eligibility of one of America's most talked-about and critically acclaimed movies of the year.
Under Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (news - web sites) rules, films are disqualified from competing in the Oscar race for best documentary if shown on television or on the Internet within nine months of their theatrical release.
However, an unauthorized or pirated display of a film would not render the movie ineligible, academy spokesman John Pavlik said on Tuesday.
"If somebody steals your movie and puts it on TV, we're not going to penalize you for it," he told Reuters.
Pavlik added that the Academy had not looked into the circumstances surrounding the film's prime-time broadcast last Thursday on state-run television in Cuba.
Moore's blistering critique of the President Bush (news - web sites) and his conduct of the war in Iraq (news - web sites) also played to packed movie houses on the communist-ruled island for a week.
A spokesman for one of the film's U.S. distributors, the Fellowship Adventure Group -- formed by Miramax Films co-chairman Bob and Harvey Weinstein -- told Reuters the TV broadcast in Cuba was "not authorized."
And entertainment trade paper Daily Variety reported that the French-based overseas distributor for the film, Wild Bunch, denied that it had made any TV deal in Cuba.
Because the Academy rule restricting TV or Internet display of Oscar contenders applies only to documentaries, "Fahrenheit 9/11" could still qualify for nomination as best picture, best director or best original screenplay.
Variety speculated that backers of the film might regard the movie, which has been popular among Hollywood's liberal-leaning elite, as having a better chance of clinching a nomination in the best picture race if it was disqualified from the documentary contest.
Producers of Moore's film have another month to decide how they want the film to be entered in Oscar competition. The deadline for submission of documentary candidates is Sept. 1. Pavlik said the academy typically receives about 60 submissions for that category.
Last year's Academy Award for best documentary feature went to the Errol Morris film "Fog of War," about the difficult lessons of military conflict learned by former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. Moore won the year before for his study of gun violence in America, "Bowling for Columbine."
What do you want to bet the Academy will quietly ignore this little obstacle?
First, the Academy has to look again at the definition of "Documentary" - Moore's film does not fit the definition.
Done. Michael Medved reported today that the Academy has decided to allow the movie for oscar consideration because the copy shown was a "bootleg" and was obtain without permission.
No telling if it was shot by Cosmo Kramer with a camcorder.
"Friends, commies, liars, thieves,imbeciles, trade unionists, trial lawyers and homosexuals"
Lend me your ears.
I hardly think the "academy" will start to enforce some less obvious rule such as 9 months - no TV when they don't even honor their own "category" rules in the first place, i.e. "definition of documentary"
I'm wondering if this was done to get the Academy off the hook. Gutless wonders.
ORDEN minds want to know.
I'll bet Moore personally delivered a print without even bothering to tell Miramax.
I hope it wins best picture of the year. That will be the ultimate indictment of the entire industry.
Cuban screening won't rule Moore out of Oscars
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 Michael Moore: tipped to win best director Oscar Photo: AP |
There had been fears that the illegal broadcast might have scuppered director Michael Moore's chance to add to his 2003 award for Bowling For Columbine. The Academy rules that any feature documentary that airs on TV within nine months of its theatrical release is automatically barred from contention.
Michael Moore's provocative portrait of the Bush administration was given a primetime slot on Cuba's state-run TV station last Tuesday. But the film's backers insist that the screening was illegal, unauthorised and broadcast from a pirate copy. There are also believed to be 120 pirate DVDs of the film currently playing at cinemas across Cuba.
In a joint statement, the film's distributors - Harvey and Bob Weinstein, IFC Entertainment chief Jonathan Sehring and Lions Gate president Tom Ortenberg, insisted that the Academy's rule "has not been violated because it was a stolen copy and was in no way authorised by its distributors".
Yesterday the Academy appeared to accept the argument. "As far as we are concerned, if this was a bootleg, as we believe it was, then we will not penalise them," Academy director of communications John Pavlik told Variety.
The makers of Fahrenheit 9/11 have until September 1 to submit it for consideration for next year's best documentary feature Oscar. However, there is speculation that the film may yet be entered in the race for best picture, with Moore already tipped as an outside bet for best director.
Holy Cow, Ron Reagan Jr. just had to weigh in on this controversial issue.
Moore's propaganda is perfect made-for-TV fare in communist dictatorships.
Hollywood would never penalize him for that.
Can't wait to see this story on "World News Tonight" with Peter Jennings.
Does it really matter? Does the film really warrant any consideration at all? Since your obvious answers are no to both, it will be nominated nevertheless. The fact that it will be simply proves the bigotry of the hollywood elitists towards us conservatives and any award given is merely icing on the top......
Who cares if it gets an oscar or not? Why are people so obsessed with people in the movie industry giving each other awards? The arts crowd is sooooo full of themselves.
I remember a few years ago they were having a "Day Without Art". They were covering up art works to make a point about all of the gay artists who croaked from aids. My reaction: Thank God they weren't plumbers.
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