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Oscars
Jan 9, 2020 16:32:40 GMT
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Post by sgev1977 on Jan 9, 2020 16:32:40 GMT
There was a Twitter row recently because a Nigeria film, Lionheart, was disqualified for the foreign category for being in English. In part the Academy is guilty because apparently they changed the name of the category we all knew as Best Foreign Language Film without changing the rules but you can imagine the accusations of racism!
The ignored problem is that if any foreign film would compete in the Best Foreign category then it's very possible that British produced films would dominated the category (1917 is produced by Spielberg but also by Sam Mendes and I think at least BAFTA considered it as a British production, for example), not small African films. So it could be a potentially difficult theme!
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Oscars
Jan 9, 2020 23:34:19 GMT
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Post by roverpup on Jan 9, 2020 23:34:19 GMT
I’ve ever thought of Oscar movies as American - I think they’re just English-language, not necessarily American. Then they also have the foreign-language category, and those movies could be American but not in English. I've always thought of the Oscars as American because all the other major English language countries who have an established film industry have their own awards. It was my understanding that the foreign films category used to be foreign in production "origin" and language. Perhaps it's changed now? I am not up to date on the latest rules.
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Oscars
Jan 14, 2020 2:09:27 GMT
Post by sgev1977 on Jan 14, 2020 2:09:27 GMT
I just saw this There is a lot of people making fun of it but it's true and that's what we were talking about: the Oscar is indeed a local award. It's very popular around the world because well, Hollywood movies are popular around the world but people doesn't usually hope for their own local films to win Oscars. It happens some times and it's considered big news thanks in big part because well, it's a LOCAL award from another country! Ironically the people who think it's in some way offensive to the Academy to say it's local are the ones who seems to think it's much bigger or important than it is.
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Oscars
Jan 14, 2020 5:14:28 GMT
Post by queenzod on Jan 14, 2020 5:14:28 GMT
Isn’t he (BJH) a “poc?” I’ve seen people on Twitter ranting that they nominated 5 white guys for best director. “No women, no poc.” I mean, I’m sure he’s not considered a poc in his own country, lol. Is that a designation they use in non-American countries?
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Oscars
Jan 14, 2020 17:11:49 GMT
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Post by sgev1977 on Jan 14, 2020 17:11:49 GMT
Probably the easiest and quickest solution is to completely change the rules and to have comitees voting. The problem is that it could end as the Man Booker Prize that according to Gerald Fox and Edward St Aubyn cares more for being diverse than to award quality. You can do both but it could be a problem if politics are prioritized over quality. Still, comitees are always the best system.
The thing with the Oscars is that there are a lot of voters and it's impossible to control what they watch. That's the reason behind the campaigns and the DVD/streaming links sent directly to their homes, events in which they could meet the cast and crew, etc. They are lazy so they will always vote for what they know or what the hype told them to vote. This "noise" is generated by the studios so I think within the actual system the blame is also on them. The studios just doesn't care too much to promote certain movies with more diverse cast or crew. They don't make do much noise and they are ignored.
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Post by roverpup on Jan 14, 2020 23:18:44 GMT
One film I will definitely be rooting for an Oscar is the short doc "St. Louis Superman" . The co-director (and writer, cinematographer) is Sarnia's Sami Khan. Unfortunately we were in India when the movie was screened in our hometown last November but I don't doubt that if Khan's film does win a statue it will have encore presentation. Khan grew up in Sarnia and attended high school that is quite close to where I live now.
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Post by sgev1977 on Jan 15, 2020 16:56:39 GMT
variety.com/2020/film/news/oscar-nominations-diversity-academy-membership-1203467309/amp/?__twitter_impression=trueYes, to this! I don't think awards are THAT important at the end of the day and if a movie like Hustlers did millions without them then who cares if a dying institution ignored it in its nominations! But if they really want awards then it's important to check how those awards work. I'm not an expert but I have known for ages that Oscar voters don't actively search for all the contenders. The active element here is the studio and if the studio doesn't care then the movie just won't be considered at all. So simple like that! I think the target of the criticism was wrong since the beginning. One day everyone who knew was conscious that Selma was ignored by the DGA awards because the studio didn't sent DVDs to the voters then the Oscar nominations came and the Academy was the worst and the only one to blame. Voters were all horrible old white men who hated black filmmakers! I mean The Academy is pretty bad but it's interesting the studio wasn't included in the criticism. And the worst thing was that the president and the person who was the face of that "racist" institution was a black woman! It was really painful to see woke white kids on social media directly attacking this black woman for not saying or doing what they considered was the "right" thing. She tried to change the demographics of the voters and that's actually great but I can imagine that a voter from, I don't know, África would actually find even more difficult to watch all contenders and probably would depend of the streaming links that studious sent to them do yes, things won't change too much if studios doesn't care to promote certain films! It's easier to just shout out on social media about how voters are white "boomers" , tho.!
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Post by roverpup on Jan 15, 2020 18:25:23 GMT
Studios have stranded productions since forever for all kinds of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with diversity issues. One of the best books I have ever read is about exactly this topic (called "Produced and Abandoned: the National Society of Film Critics Write on the Best Films You've Never Seen").
"Woke" internet culture doesn't want to acknowledge that though. Where would they get their sense of purpose from if they actually had to push themselves away from their keyboards and read something from learned people to give some perspective about the issues that they just want to rant about on social media?
And that goes for at least half of the so-called columnists out there too!
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Oscars
Jan 15, 2020 19:18:28 GMT
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Post by sgev1977 on Jan 15, 2020 19:18:28 GMT
There's a problem but I don't think people on social media or columnists really want to find a solution. It's more about being self-righteous and looking like the "good guys" (without never say something that someone out there would find controversial or even complex) and to gain some easy clicks.
Again, awards aren't THAT important at the end of the day and the Oscars aren't what they used to be. The ceremony is less and less popular each year. Box office and critical success should be enough but if they want those awards then they should look the way the system works and why studios doesn't seem to care enough to promote those films with voters? Why they believe those actors and directors (because it's almost always about actors and directors) aren't promoted as others?
I also think it would help not to create animosity. For example a "screenwriter and romantic relationships columnist" asked why films as 1917 are still being made? Suggesting those films aren't necessary and others about women or non-white people should be made instead. It's extremely unnecessary thing to say when clearly a film like 1917 still has an audience. A big audience worldwide! Why not ask for other kind of films with different kind of point of views being made alongside them? No! It's just them or us!
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Oscars
Jan 15, 2020 23:02:03 GMT
Post by mllemass on Jan 15, 2020 23:02:03 GMT
When My Big Fat Greek Wedding came out, people were SHOCKED that it made so much money. It was this little independent, low-budget “chick flick” that took off by word of mouth. Good movies will find their audience, even if the awards don’t follow.
Unless the Oscars start listing criteria for the different categories, there’s no reason for academy member to consider specific things like diverse cast when voting. And maybe the Best Director category should be split in two - Best Male Director and Best Female Director, like they do for the acting awards.
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