A few weeks ago, Paul Schrader got a lot of heat for a Facebook post in which he mentioned that most filmmaking nations — Britain, France, Gemany — have their own national awards, so if the festivals have their own awards, why can’t the Oscars stick to honoring American movies?
Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux has echoed Schrader’s thoughts to Variety, insisting that the Best Picture Oscar should go to an American movie. Will he also be getting backlash for this?
The Oscar for best film must go to an American film, like the Cesar for the best film goes to a French film and the Goya goes to a Spanish film.
Frémaux had similar sentiments three years ago with IndieWire‘s Eric Kohn. “Maybe it would be good for America to celebrate its own cinema,” he said.
It makes sense. If you’re going to celebrate American moviemaking then a US film should probably win the big prize. But this goes against everything the Oscars have been trying to do these last few years. They’ve been trying to branch out more internationally and the result was the first ever foreign language film to win Best Picture, 2019’s “Parasite.”
Fremaux did tackle the “Parasite” win, but also “Triangle of Sadness,” both Palme d’Or winners, which he believes should have been nominated in the Best International Film category:
“I don’t understand either why [2022 Cannes Palme d’Or winner] ‘Triangle of Sadness’ can’t vie for a best international film Oscar, even if it’s in English. How can a non-American film win the Oscar for best film since it’s a ceremony in honor of American cinema? ‘Parasite’ won, it’s great, but it’s a Korean film.”
Academy rules state that an International Feature submission must “be predominantly (more than 50%) in a language or languages other than English,” while much of the Euro-financed “Triangle of Sadness”unfolds in English.
These last few years we’ve seen “Roma,” “Parasite,” “Drive My Car,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” and “Triangle of Sadness” all getting Best Picture nods. If anything, they have piqued the curiosities of a small demographic of mainstream moviegoers to seek them out. That’s a win in and of itself.
With that being said, Fremaux also isn’t wrong. The Cesars reward French films, the Goyas honor Spanish cinema and many other European countries do the same thing with their own respective films.
The Academy sees itself as the be all end all for honoring the “best” films, which is pure hogwash. They want to branch out by nominating International films because it brings more legitimacy to this claim.
But in an industry where films like “TAR” and “The Fabelmans” are struggling to find an audience, maybe it’s not a bad idea to concentrate on your own domestic product, zeroing in more on how to better promote them and not let these titles slip into the ether.
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.