The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has denied an appeal from producers Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Sarah Anthony, rejecting the Oscar eligibility of their documentary Kiss the Future. Despite the film’s wide release across 139 AMC cinemas, including key markets such as Los Angeles and New York, the Academy ruled that it failed to meet the specific screening criteria required for documentary features.
As reported by Deadline, the actors of the film passed a letter to the “Awards Committee and the Documentary Branch Executive Committee” asking for a re-evaluation of the Academy’s initial eligibility ruling.
The producers addressed the commitee with a message that read, “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.”
The Academy has however, denied their plea as they wrote back to Anthony, “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.”
Kiss The Future is a documentary based on the story of the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s and how U2’s music helped inspire the city’s beleaguered residents. The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last year, followed by its US premiere at Tribeca Festival. It was nominated for the Cinema for Peace Award and won the Audience Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
