American Academy vetoes “Listen” as Portuguese Oscar nominee – Observer

The film “Listen”, by Ana Rocha de Sousa, was vetoed by the American Film Academy as a Portuguese candidate for the Oscars in the category of Best International Film. The information was provided by SIC, who explained that the film was disqualified because more than half of the dialogues were in English, which is contrary to the rules for a film to be considered international. “He was disqualified,” confirmed the filmmaker on the station.

Subsequently, the Observer had access to an official note from the Portuguese Film Academy confirming the veto, indicating that the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) “informed the Portuguese Film Academy that, after analyzing the film Listens by Ana Rocha de Sousa, the International Feature Films Executive Committee considered the candidacy ineligible and requested that a new candidate be sent as soon as possible ”.

Despite the particularities of the film’s narrative that justify the use of dialogue in English, the exclusion factor is linked to one of the eligibility criteria that requires that at least 50% of the candidate film is spoken in a language other than English, “he says. the Portuguese Film Academy.

The film had been preselected by the national entity, subsequently being the most voted among those preselected.

So who will be the Portuguese Oscar nominee? The Academy responds by saying that “it opened a lightning vote at 00:00 hours on December 18 [sexta-feira] which will end at 11:59 pm on Sunday 20, during which the members of the Academy will vote for Portugal’s new candidate for the Oscar 2021. The voting films are the three previously selected nominees: Mosquito, by the director João Nuno Pinto, Patrick director Gonçalo Waddington and Vitalina Varela, from the director Pedro Costa “ .

On his Facebook page, the director of the film Patrick, Gonçalo Waddington, criticized the Portuguese Academy of Cinema for choosing a film that was later deemed ineligible: “It is a pity that the Portuguese Academy is unaware of the language rule contained in the regulations of the Academy of Cinema, Arts and Sciences! ” , wrote.

Just when it was announced as the Portuguese film candidate for the next edition of the Oscars, the hypothesis of Listens be deemed ineligible by the American Film Academy.

The hypothesis was, at that time, raised by the Diário de Notícias, and later it was confirmed by the Observer with Paulo Trancoso, president of the Portuguese Academy of Cinema. “We consulted the Academy [norte-americana] from the beginning of the process because we knew that there was an important part of the dialogues in English [no filme]But the truth is, they didn’t want to make an eligibility decision right away. They want to see the movie to understand it, ”Paulo Trancoso said in November.

What was decided was: if the film was presented [como candidato português], I would go to a specific commission for this purpose, to see if it is considered eligible, since it has dialogues in Portuguese, English and even in sign language. Historically there have been cases of movies [com um conjunto significativo de diálogos em inglês] accepted and not accepted. What we did not want was in any way to annul the possibility of the film being selected ”, said then the president of the Portuguese Academy of Cinema.

“Listen” is the Portuguese candidate for the Oscars 2021. But it is not yet certain that he is eligible

At that time, like the director Ana Rocha de Sousa, the president of the Portuguese Film Academy also defended that the film should be considered eligible because “the languages ​​spoken that are heard [nomeadamente, a língua inglesa] they have to do with the story and plot of the film ”, which was still Portuguese (or“ international ”) despite the English dialogue. And I already explained that yes Listens if not considered eligible, the second most voted film in the election of the Portuguese Academy of Cinema that determined that it would not be chosen as a Portuguese candidate for the Oscars.

The idea passed, explained Paulo Trancoso, for the realization of a new “lightning election within the Academy [portuguesa] with the remaining three films ”that were overlooked: Vitalina Varela, by Pedro Costa, Patrick, by Gonçalo Waddington, and Mosquitoby João Nuno Pinto. Now the option of a new election has been confirmed.

Ana Rocha de Sousa. “I want to make auteur cinema that reaches people. And I want to do it in my country “