AMPAS changes rules for song, foreign film

Here  it is,  only June, and the Oscar drama has already started … woo-hoo!

AMPAS released their new rules in the Best Song and Best Foreign Language categories.  Obviously these changes stem from the controversies that surrounded last year’s Oscars. The rules state, for Best Song, “while there continues to be no limit on the number of songs from a given film that can be submitted for consideration, no more than two songs from any one film may be nominated for an Academy Award … Also, in addition to the annual screening event at which members of the Music Branch view clips featuring the eligible songs as they appear in the films and vote, DVDs of those same clips will be made available to branch members who are unable to attend the screening.” Its about time. I love the annual Oscar ceremony – Its my High Holy Day … but who really wanted to sit through 3 songs from “Enchanted” or from the previous year “Dreamgirls”?

For Best Foreign Language, the new rule says, “the Phase I committee – which is open to any voting member who views a minimum number of the eligible films – will now vote to determine only six of the nine films that will ultimately go to the Phase II committee.   The other three titles will be determined by those members of the 20-member Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee who have qualified to vote in the category.   The executive committee’s selections will be made after the Phase I voting has been tallied.” The nominations for Best Foreign Language Film have always been a bone of contention for Oscar-philes. So many of the most lauded films in the yearly festival circuits  are always  poo-pooed by the Foreign Language Committee.  This was never more evident than  in last year’s snub of “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days” from Romania. Winning the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival  and world-wide critical acclaim  got a whole lot of nothin’ from the Academy-not even a pre-nomination nod. Let’s face it, the whole category needs a major face-lift.