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Under discussion:

Princess Mononoke  (1997)

Spirited Away  (2001)

Persepolis  (2007)

Kung Fu Panda  (2008)

Wall-E  (2008)

Chicago 10  (2008)

Waltz With Bashir  (2008)

The Class (Entre les Murs)  (2008)

Animated, foreign-language, feature-length documentary. These are all separate categories for the Academy Awards, but they also together describe Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir, a film that has received tons of praise and Oscar buzz since premiering at Cannes last May. With such a rare combination and transcendence of genres, Waltz could possibly have been the first film to be nominated for Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature and Best Foreign Language Film. Unfortunately, soon after being announced as Israel’s submission to the foreign category, Folman’s film fell out of contention for the documentary prize after its distributor, Sony Pictures Classics, had to choose between having a qualifying theatrical release and taking part in the New York Film Festival.

But even if Waltz had been deemed technically eligible for the doc category, would the nominating committee have given it much of a chance? According to the Academy’s Documentary Feature rules, the film “may employ partial re-enactment … animation … or other techniques, as long as the emphasis is on fact and not fiction.” Waltz could possibly fall under this guideline, yet the word “partial” is key. Does “mostly” constitute as ‘partial”? It will be interesting to see if another mostly animated documentary, Brett Morgen’s Chicago 10, is deemed ineligible or if it makes the committee’s shortlist of 15 semi-finalists.

Now, left with two categories to be considered for, Waltz will probably only garner one nomination. Here’s why Sony would be foolish not to concentrate on a push for the Animated Feature category:

The film has a much better shot at being one of the three titles up for Best Animated Feature, surely competing with Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda. In the seven years that the category has existed, there have been four foreign films nominated for Best Animated Feature, and one of these titles (Hiyao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away) actually won the award. Meanwhile, comparatively, there seems to have been no film nominated for the Foreign Language Film prize that was either animated or a documentary. A few films of each type have been submitted for contention in the foreign category (Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke and the recent Lebanese doc Before Flying Back to Earth, to name examples). However, it has been far more common for non-fiction foreign films to be nominated in the Documentary Feature category and for animated foreign films to now be nominated in the new Animated Feature category.

Regardless of the history of the Foreign Language Oscar, though, Waltz has less a chance of being a nominee in that category simply due to its near certainty of being nominated for the animation award. When a film is eligible for multiple categories, there’s a possibility that respective Academy branches will see that film as better suited – and only suited – for another award than its own. Therefore, the foreign category’s nominating committee could shrug off Waltz in the anticipation that the film will receive the nomination from the animation branch. Such a pass-off may have happened last year, when France chose Persepolis as its submission to the Foreign Language category. While the film ended up receiving a nomination for Best Animated Feature, it failed to even be shortlisted as one of the nine semi-finalists for the foreign prize.

Like Persepolis, though, Waltz faces stiff competition in the animation category from Pixar. Last year, the foreign contender was beaten by Ratatouille, while this year any dark horse candidate will be pummeled by Wall-E, especially if the latter film doesn’t garner a coveted Best Picture nom — the Academy will of course never need to include an animated film in the top category now that the genre has its own specific space. As for the foreign category, if Waltz does make it into contention, it will likely lose to Laurent Cantet’s The Class, which also fared better at Cannes during the festival’s awards ceremony (and which is also being distributed by Sony Classics). For the French, of course, it would be a bittersweet victory to beat an animated feature considering last year’s circumstances with its submission of Persepolis.

Despite the probability that Waltz will lose whichever category it’s nominated in, there is far more benefit to the film being recognized by the animation branch than the foreign branch. Films that are merely nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar do not necessarily come out of the Academy Awards with a greater guarantee of reaching an American audience. Comparatively, being listed as only one-third of a group that also includes blockbusters like Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda is sure to get Waltz more attention. Not only is it good company to be in, it’s a slimmer, more exclusive league, too.

Of course, being nominated in both categories would be the best option for Waltz, even if it walks away with neither trophy. Obviously an arthouse film, particuarly one with the triple handicap of being an animated, foreign-language documentary, will always benefit from having its title heard multiple times during the Oscars telecast.

Under discussion:

Keane  (2004)

L'Enfant  (2006)

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist  (2008)

After a long layover at Port Authority spent reenacting scenes from Keane (see what I did there? I went for the obscure but creepy reference, instead of the topical, populist one) I took the bus up to Woodstock, NY this weekend, to spend about 24 hours at the Woodstock Film Festival. I finally saw Sean Baker’s Prince of Broadway, an improvised family dramedy which plays something like a Hollywood remake of L’enfant set in the bootleg luxury trade on the streets of New York; it won big at LAFF and took Woodstock’s top narrative prize on Saturday night. The awards ceremony where Broadway was honored was indie star-studded, surprisingly casual and fun, and –– maybe unsurprisingly––littered with references to the ongoing presidential election. “Kevin, we’re giving you the Maverick Award,” screenwriter Ron Nyswaner said at the start of the show to director Kevin Smith. “That means we think you’re qualified to be the leader of the free world.”

You’ll find some of the night’s most memorable quotes, from Smith, Ang Lee and others, below the jump. Above, you’ll find video of James Schamus’ Trailblazer Award acceptance speech, and the tail end of his introduction by Lee.

“It seems like right now our industry is broken, but more importantly, our country is broken. So let’s get Obama in office, and then let’s brainstorm how to fix indie film.” Sean Baker, director of Prince of Broadway, which remains undistributed.

“In part because he lived with AIDS for 20 years, Jim brought a fragility to his [editing].” — Amy Taubin, presenting an award named after the late editor Jim Lyons.

“Boycott Dollar!” — Frozen River actress Melissa Leo, in the midst of a very strange monologue which is probably best left unpublished, in part about her difficulties getting a rental car at La Guardia.

“Boycott CVS. I tried to rent a car from those motherfuckers…” — Kevin Smith

“Every time I start a film, it’s like the Madonna song, “Like a Virgin.” It’s like I’m doing it for the first time. I could not do it alone. I need James [Schamus] with me.” — Ang Lee.

“He is profane, he is acerbic. He is one of the greatest humanists I’ve ever met.” — John Sloss on Kevin Smith.

“In any other year, it’d be great to be called a maverick. I’ve made the exact same fucking movie eight times, and 15 years later, they’re like, “You’re a maverick,” and I’m like, “Whatever.” Maybe we should rename the award…I suggest we call it the Dress-Wearing Cocksucker Award. I’m a married man and I have a kid, but I’ve always been a bicurious bear.” — Kevin Smith