The producer of Hong Kong film A Light Never Goes Out has spoken out following the disqualification of the feature from the 2024 Oscars race.
The drama was submitted by the Federation of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong for the international feature film category of the 96th Academy Awards in September. But when the Academy revealed the list of eligible titles last Thursday, A Light Never Goes Out was not included and the Federation is trying to figure out why.
Despite the outcome, producer Saville Chan told Screen: “It’s not what we wanted to happen, but now is not the time to point fingers. It sounds like a procedural thing over the submission regulations. More importantly, we should address the issue and won’t let this happen again to ensure that well-deserved Hong Kong films can be rightfully submitted to the Oscars in the future.”
There had been a question mark over Hong Kong’s inclusion for several weeks when the submitted film did not appear on the list of titles seen by Academy voters. However, the production team behind A Light Never Goes Out only learned the fate of their film when the Federation issued an official statement yesterday (December 11) about the “rare and regrettable” disqualification.
According to the Chinese-language statement, the Federation followed the same procedures as in previous years to select the film. The Federation’s long-time chairman, Crucindo Hung, revealed further details to Hong Kong’s iCable news channel yesterday.
Hung said the selection committee originally comprised 19 members but that a new group was formed after the Academy revised its entry regulations in August, which ruled out members who had served on the Federation’s board for more than six years. However, the Federation was notified a month ago that one of the 13 members of the new committee had a conflict of interest.
“One of the actors [from the committee] is a lead in A Light Never Goes Out so has a conflict of interest and is not allowed to vote,” said Hung. “This has never happened before. In the past, the 19 members of the selection committee were also from the industry, including producers, actors, actresses, directors, gaffers and cinematographers. Some of the films starred or were produced or directed by them. It has never been disallowed before.”
Hung added that if the vote from the actor was not counted, A Light Never Goes Out would have still received the highest number of votes. When the Federation asked whether they could do so, the Academy refused and requested an alternate submission. The Federation declined, deeming it unfair to A Light Never Goes Out.
Directed by first-time feature filmmaker Anastasia Tsang, A Light Never Goes Out was entirely financed by the First Feature Film Initiative (FFFI) of the Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC). The drama follows a widow, played by veteran Sylvia Chang, who fulfils her late husband’s wish of recreating a demolished neon sign, once an icon in Hong Kong. The cast also includes Simon Yam, Cecilia Choi and Henick Chou.
It had its world premiere at Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2022 and Chang was named best actress at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards the following month. Its European premiere was at Rotterdam, while the US premiere was at New York Asian Film Festival. The film was released in the US last month through Orchid Tree Media. Hong Kong-based Entertaining Power handles international sales.
The disqualification marks the first time in nearly 20 years that Hong Kong has not been in the running for the Oscars.
The Federation of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong was co-founded by the legendary film mogul Run Run Shaw in 1964 and has since handled the selection and submission for the Oscars. Two Hong Kong films have been disqualified previously: 2002’s The Touch directed by Peter Pau, which comprises mainly English dialogue; and 2003’s Running On Karma directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai, which opened in Hong Kong just before the release period stipulated by the Academy Awards.
Hong Kong has been nominated three times, most recently in 2020 with Derek Tsang’s Better Days, and made the shortlist once with Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster in 2014.
Further submissions that did not make this year’s final list include Cuba with Fernando Perez’s Nelsito’s World; Kyrgyzstan with Aktan Abdykalykov’s This Is What I Remember; and Tajikistan with Behrouz Sebt Rasoul’s Melody.
A shortlist of 15 finalists from 88 submissions is set to be announced on December 21 with the final five nominees announced on January 24, 2024. The 96th Academy Awards will take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
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