Cuban 'Fahrenheit' Telecast Raises Oscar Questions
Tue Aug 3, 2004 05:28 PM ET
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. distributors of Michael Moore's
controversial "Fahrenheit 9/11" said on Tuesday that an unauthorized
broadcast of the film on Cuban television will not disqualify the movie
from Oscar competition in the feature documentary category.
"The film that was illegally shown on Cuban state-run TV was from an
unauthorized, pirated copy," said a statement issued by Lions Gate Films,
IFC Entertainment and the Fellowship Adventure Group, founded by Miramax
Films co-chairs Bob and Harvey Weinstein.
Under Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rules, documentaries are
ineligible for Oscar consideration if displayed on TV or on the Internet
within nine months of their theatrical release.
However, an unauthorized or pirated display of a film would not render the
movie ineligible, academy spokesman John Pavlik said on Tuesday.
"If somebody steals your movie and puts it on TV, we're not going to
penalize you for it," he told Reuters.
Lions Gate, IFC and Fellowship Adventure Group said they had informed the
academy that the Cuban telecast was not sanctioned by the distributors,
adding the academy "has confirmed that the distributors did not violate
the rules and had nothing to do with the illegal screening of the movie."
Questions about the Oscar eligibility of "Fahrenheit 9/11" surfaced after
Moore's blistering critique of the President Bush and his conduct of the
war in Iraq was aired last Thursday in prime time on state-run Cuban
television.
Copies of the film projected from rough DVD copies also played to packed
houses in about 120 theaters across the communist-ruled island for a week.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" could also qualify for nomination as best picture, best
director or best original screenplay.
The distributors had no comment on what Oscar categories producers of the
film might seek to enter.
Producers of Moore's film have another month to decide how they want the
film to be entered in Oscar competition. The deadline for submission of
documentary candidates is Sept. 1. Pavlik said the academy typically
receives about 60 submissions for that category.
Last year's Academy Award for best documentary feature went to the Errol
Morris film "Fog of War," about the difficult lessons of military conflict
learned by former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. Moore won the year
before for his study of gun violence in America, "Bowling for Columbine."
"Fahrenheit 9/11," which won top honors at the Cannes film festival in
May, has grossed more than $100 million, making it an unprecedented
commercial success for a political documentary.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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