New rules for Academy Awards Best Short Documentary sees European festivals become qualifiers

by Laurence Boyce

03/04/2013 - Tampere, IDFA and Krakow among festivals whose awards will allow short docs to qualify for consideration for Oscars

The Wrap has reported that the US Academy is to make sweeping changes regarding the rules for Best Short Documentary. Whilst not officially confirmed by the Academy, the Branch governor for Documentary, Rob Epstein, told The Wrap that soon to be announced revisions to the voting process will include allowing more members to join the chapter and to allow the possibility of members to vote from screeners instead of making attendance at a special screening mandatory.

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Of particular interest will be the attempt to make sure that a more internationally diverse range of Short Documentaries are represented. As such, a number of festivals will now see award winning short docs being able to bypass the traditional Academy qualifying rules (namely that films must be shown in a seven-day theatrical run in New York or LA) and automatically qualify for consideration.

There are numerous European festivals on the list of 24 festivals. Some, including Tampere and Krakow, are already qualifiers for best Short Fiction and their newly qualifying Documentary prizes will only serve to enhance their formidable reputations. Other European festivals that are now qualifiers include Plus Cameraimage in Poland and Visions Du Reel in France.

The full list of qualifying festivals and prizes is:

Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films
Gold Mikeldi for Documentary

Chicago International Film Festival
Best Documentary Short

Edindocs
Best Short Documentary

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Jury Award for Best Short

Hotdocs
Best Short Documentary

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
Best Mid-length Documentary

Krakow International Film Festival
The Golden Dragon for Best Short Film
Silver Dragon for Best Short Documentary

Los Angeles Film Festival
Best Documentary Short

LA Shorts Fest
Best documentary

London International Documentary Film Festival
Best Short Film

Melbourne International Film Festival
Best Documentary Short Film