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Hi Folks,

Every year during Oscar nomination times, the controversies, etc abound in India. Hence want to elucidate all the filmmakers on PFC so they can further talk about it to their friend and enemy circle. These came straight from the Academy Office. And you can mention you first heard about it on PfC (and while I may be a foodie, I don’t mean PF Chang’s, the only Chang I follow is Michael Chang)

So here goes

1) Rule # 1 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences mailed Foreign Language Film award entry forms to 96 countries, facilitating their submissions for the 81st Academy Awards®.

To qualify for the 2008 Awards, a film must be released in the submitting country between October 1, 2007, and September 30, 2008, and be publicly screened in 35mm or 70mm film or in a qualifying digital cinema format for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theater.

The dialogue track must be predominantly in a language or languages other than English.  Accurate English subtitles are required.

Entry forms and film prints must be received at the Academy by Wednesday, October 1, 2008.  Only one picture will be accepted from each country.

In 2007 the Austrian film “The Counterfeiters” won the Oscar over a field of nominated films from Israel, Kazakhstan, Poland and Russia.

Countries that have not received entry packets but are interested in submitting a film for consideration should contact Awards Coordinator Torene Svitil at (310) 247-3000, ext. 116, or via e-mail at tsvitil@oscars.org.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide

Vivek ’s Take: Yes, yes one of those 96 countries, despite us copying in the commerical and arthouse category from every other country, is India. And please, please, for once- let’s get the sub titles right!!!!

1) Rule # 2- The governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved the rules for the 81st Academy Awards at their Tuesday evening (6/17) meeting.  The only significant changes were in the Music – Original Song category.  Other modifications of the rules include normal date changes and minor “housekeeping” changes. 

Three items of note were altered in the Original Song rules.  First, 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; ballots will accompany the DVDs and must be returned by mail.

Music Branch members who have one or more songs in contention for nominations do not vote in that phase of the balloting.  They remain eligible to vote on the final ballot to select the winner.

The only other category with a notable change is the Foreign Language Film Award and as was the case in 2006, the alteration is a procedural one rather than one in the rules per se.  For the 81st Academy Awards, the two-phase process by which the nominees are selected will remain intact.  However, 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. 

Complete rules for all categories can be viewed online at www.oscars.org/rules.

Vivek ’s Take: Filmmakers, next time you are in LA, start the networking with the Phase 1 committee members, early and my definition of networking is not “over drinks,” nothing happens there, it is more a genuine talk about your film, who you are, etc. Original music—-I will correspond separately with Himesh, Anu, Pritam, etc, if I feel “inspired.”

Sincerely,

Vivek “so now the ball is in your court, no more cribbing and complaining when it is Oscar nomination time from India, move your but and get that film of your’s submitted and tell them you read about the rules in PfC”Kumar