Second Foreign Film Disqualified from Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science (AMPAS) has disqualified a second film from its Best International Film category, saying that too much of the dialogue was in English.

Joy, an Austrian film about Nigerian sex-workers in Vienna, is the second to fall victim to AMPAS’ rules surrounding the new category.

Just last week Nigeria’s first submission to AMPAS was turned down for the same reason, prompting backlash from stars within the industry.

The Hollywood Reporter was the first to break the story, saying the Academy barred the film because it found that around two thirds of its dialogue was in English.

AMPAS released a statement earlier saying “As we do every year, the Academy is in the process of reviewing the films submitted for the International Feature Film category to determine whether they meet our eligibility requirements.

“The film Joy, submitted by Austria, was just reviewed and is ineligible because only 33% of the dialogue is non-English”.

Once again, Oscar-nominated actor and director Ava DuVernay responded to the decision, tweeting “Another one.  How about letting countries submit the film they feel best represents its cinematic work in any given year?

“I’m really asking.  There has to be a good reason for not.  I want to understand.  I know when the no English rule originated.  But why?”.

This is the first year the Best International Film category has featured, having previously been the Best Foreign Language Film category.