Yahoo Lifestyle Plot Thickens Over Matt Damon-Ben Affleck Documentary Ruled Ineligible For Oscars; Filmmakers Insist It Did Qualify, But Academy Claims Otherwise
UPDATED:: Academy sources say the rule that states a film, to qualify for Oscar consideration, must play “in the same commercial motion picture theater” three times a day for a week has been in place since the 93rd Academy Awards. That language appears under Rule Two section 2d, which outlines eligibility for “All eligible motion pictures, unless otherwise noted.” Those Academy sources say very similar language was added this year to “Rule Twelve. Special Rules for the Documentary Feature Film Award,” so that it now appears in two places within the Academy guidelines.
That may not end the argument, however. Contacted Tuesday night, Kiss the Future director Nenad Cicin-Sain said, regarding Rule Two section 2d, “That section of the rules pertains to feature films and not documentary films. And documentary feature films have always had their own set of rules.” He added that his film did its qualifying run in February of this year, before the Academy published its rules for 2024, which added the stipulation of playing on one screen in the same venue to Rule Twelve (the part of the guidelines that pertains to documentary features).
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Cicin-Sain said ruefully, “This is like rule whack-a-mole. I’m seriously considering doing a documentary about this experience — it’s probably more of a comedy, which really is more financially lucrative.”
PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE: New developments in the Oscar controversy surrounding Kiss the Future, the Matt Damon-Ben Affleck documentary that the Motion Picture Academy ruled ineligible for awards consideration.
As Deadline reported Monday, the Academy denied an appeal from producers Damon, Affleck and Sarah Anthony, who argued the film’s wide release – at 139 AMC cinemas including screens in the qualifying markets of Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Atlanta – should make it Oscar-eligible. The documentary branch executive committee countered that Kiss the Future only played twice a day in a qualifying market, not three times a day as stipulated under Rule 12 of Oscar guidelines (read it here).
After our story posted, observers on social media commented that nothing in the rules said a film had to play on a single screen in a qualifying market; taking all the screens in qualifying markets collectively, Kiss the Future played much more than three times a day. The filmmakers investigated further and agreed with the analysis; on that basis, director Nenad Cicin-Sain wrote to the Academy on Monday night stating the documentary should be judged to have properly qualified.
“There is no specific rule stating that the required three daily screenings for Academy Award qualification must all occur in the same theater within a qualifying city,” Cicin-Sain wrote to a senior Academy staffer who is part of a team that handles member relations and awards administration. “The rule emphasizes that the film must play at least three times a day over a consecutive seven-day period in one of the qualifying U.S. metro areas. These cities include Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
“KISS THE FUTURE played in all those markets for two weeks and far exceeded the minimum requirement of screenings per day (more than 3 times a day).”
Cicin-Sain continued in his email to the Academy, “The rulebook you provided specifies that a film must play **three times daily** in a qualifying city, but it **does not explicitly state** that these screenings must all occur in the *same theater* within the qualifying city… Can you please provide where it says ‘3 times a day in the same theater?’”
The dispute may come down to which rulebook applies. Under the rules for the 96th Academy Awards no mention is made in Rule Twelve (governing documentaries released in 2023) of a documentary needing to play in a single location three times a day. Kiss the Future filmmakers say the rulebook for the 96th Oscars is one the Academy pointed them to, and the one that came up for them in internet searches. Sources with the Academy, however, say a rule was added for the 97th Academy Awards (governing documentaries released in 2024) that states, “The seven consecutive days of the theatrical release are required to occur in one venue.” [See update above where Academy sources say the single screening venue rule has been indicated in Oscar eligibility guidelines since the 93rd Academy Awards, under Rule Two section 2d].
The existence or non-existence of that rule –and where it appears in the rulebook — does not speak to the filmmakers’ larger argument — that if the Academy’s goal is to get people to watch films in theaters, Kiss the Future more than met the mark. Most qualifying documentaries only receive a token “four wall” release, but KTF got what amounts to a wide release for a nonfiction film.
“What they’re doing is they’re enforcing the letter of the rule and not the spirit of the rule,” Cicin-Sain told Deadline Monday. “And if the spirit of the rule is to put movies in theaters — and that’s what we did by exhibiting it in as many theaters possible… and then you’re not qualifying, something’s wrong.”
Kiss the Future, which tells the story of the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s and how U2’s music helped inspire the city’s beleaguered residents, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2023 and held its U.S. premiere at Tribeca Festival. It was nominated for the Cinema for Peace Award and won the Audience Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Cicin-Sain, in an interview with Deadline on Tuesday, said he’s been heartened by the response to the story of Kiss the Future’s effort to preserve its shot at Oscar recognition.
“Just tremendous support,” he said, “just tremendous support from so many people in the industry and the general public.”
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