Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Documentary Will Not Compete for an Oscar Because of a Small Mistake. The Academy Is Not Going to Change Its Mind
Kiss the Future failed to meet all the requirements and therefore will not compete for the Oscars. A small oversight has swayed the Academy's decision.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are producers of the documentary Kiss the Future. This critically and viewer well-received documentary takes a look at the events that took place in Sarajevo in the 1990s. It focuses on the vibrant underground community that made a difference with the help of music and art, attracting worldwide attention, including that of the band U2, which helped raise awareness about the siege of Sarajevo and the war taking place in the area. Kiss the Future is also proof of U2's fulfilled promise of a post-war concert in the liberated city.
The entire team responsible for Kiss the Future was anxious for the production to compete for an Oscar, and efforts were made to meet the Academy's requirements. However, one oversight determined the rejection of Kiss the Future's candidacy. Although the film was screened in more than 130 AMC theaters across the United States, with screenings in some of them 3 times a day, no care was taken to ensure that this was the case in the qualifying market, where there were only 2 screenings a day. And that weighed on Kiss the Future's chances of contending for the Oscars (via Deadline).
In the Academy's rules for feature-length documentaries, we can find information: „The picture must have been publicly exhibited for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in one of the six qualifying U.S. metro areas: Los Angeles County; City of New York [five boroughs]; the Bay Area [counties of San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, San Mateo and Contra Costa]; Chicago [Cook County, Illinois]; Dallas-Fort Worth [Dallas County, Tarrant County, Texas]; and Atlanta [Fulton County, Georgia], for a run of at least seven consecutive days. Screenings during the theatrical release must occur at least three times daily, with at least one screening beginning between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily”.
In connection with this troublesome situation, which occurred due to the failure to meet one of the eligibility requirements to compete for the Oscars, Affleck, Damon and Sarah Anthony wrote a letter addressed to the Awards Committee and the Executive Committee of the Documentary Branch, asking them to take a second look at the matter and possibly change the Academy's decision.
The film first premiered in competition at Berlinale in February 2023. It was then selected as the opening film for the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2023, and for the Sarajevo Film Festival in August 2023, where it received the Audience Award. It has screened at numerous other festivals, and in February of 2024 was released theatrically by AMC for a two-week run in 139 theaters across all major markets in the U.S. In some theaters, the film screened three times daily, but… the programmers [AMC] neglected to do a three-times daily screening within New York or Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, the Academy has not changed its mind and the decision is final – Kiss the Future will not be qualified to compete for the Oscars. The response noted that all submissions must be treated equally and must follow the same rules, and in light of these rules Kiss the Future does not meet all the requirements.
The Documentary Branch Executive Committee has reviewed the appeal for KISS THE FUTURE. We regret to inform you that the appeal has been denied, and the film was deemed ineligible. While we know this news is disappointing, we assure you that the situation was thoroughly discussed and evaluated. These difficult decisions are not taken lightly by the Committee, but the process is necessary to be fair and consistent with all entries.
There was still a proposal from the producers about re-releasing the film to theaters in a form that would meet the Academy's requirements, however this would not help the case due to the fact that Kiss the Future has already managed to hit streaming and would be considered to have debuted online before its qualifying theatrical release, which would also disqualify the documentary.
All those involved with Kiss the Future are devastated by this decision, which is the result of a small oversight.
