Predicting favorites is harder than ever: the International Executive Committee Academy also cannot choose three titles for the list.
Like many other organizations, the Academy uses the pandemic as an excuse to make changes that have long been made. The shortlist for the best international feature – announced on February 9, along with eight other shortlists of the category – expands from 10 to 15, meaning more films than ever before are up for final nominations. In the first phase, each participating voter on the General Committee, drawn from a series of Academy branches, has a list of a dozen films they must watch in order to vote in a secret ballot (and to be more obscure functions to give a chance).
The Academy is also abandoning for the time being the controversial addition of three hand-picked titles (often festival and critique favorites) by the International Executive Committee to the original scores of the larger general committee. This will make many people happy. This year, with online voting opportunities expanding to the worldwide Academy, voting is no longer limited to a small group of (often) retired contestants on display in Los Angeles. This year may reflect a broader perspective, holding back the need for a more “sophisticated” group to add toner titles.
Dan Levine, Mark Johnson and Aaron Ryder
Photo by Rob Latour / Variety / REX / Shutterstock
The longtime foreign-language Oscar tsar Mark Johnson introduced the executive additions when the Oscar voters who were regularly in the mainstream were not shortlisted as the winners of the 2007 Cannes Palme d’Or “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days ”Did not want to include. The author’s branch governor Larry Karaszewski and director governor Susanne Bier now head the International Feature Executive Committee, which is responsible for administering category rules and determining suitability for films.
“All dates and issues regarding rules and eligibility for the 93rd Academy Awards are subject to change, based on national guidelines, government mandates and best practices determined by the Academy.” said an AMPAS spokesman.
According to the old voting method, pre-voters were able to choose their five best films, which yielded seven choices. This year, their top totals will yield 15 films; the 2021 vote takes place February 1-5. For the second round of voting, voters must see all 15 shortlisted films.
All this makes publicists tear their hair out. Not only do they have fewer ways of influencing voters, but with the rules changing under their feet, it is also harder to predict the outcome. How will a more diverse and international pool of votes change the nature of the results, and will the second round favor the more popular titles seen by more voters? Nothing to do but be fascinated by the changes around us all.
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