The Academy Documentary Judges’ View

“Film Makers Urge Academy to Change Selection System,” Elaine Dutka’s Feb. 23 article on the motion-picture academy’s selection of documentary nominations, is misleading to the extent of being grossly unfair.

Television and press critic Roger Ebert is quoted as saying, “What you have here is a volunteer committee of good-hearted but fairly out-of-touch senior citizens acting as a roadblock against the advancement of those films which don’t conform to its old-fashioned standards.” Ebert’s deduction is based on the notion that, as the article says, the committee “screened 59 films (and took) six hours a week over a two-month period . . . so few people with busy schedules are drawn to the task in the first place.”

What nonsense. The screenings were held evenings, two nights a week, with an occasional need for a Saturday session. What does this have to do with busy schedules?

“Out-of-touch senior citizens” are buzzwords designed to discredit a group of hard-working, selfless individuals who have a keen interest in the documentary form.

The article refers to “The Thin Blue Line” as excluded from the list of Oscar contenders. And Dutka writes that a letter to the academy from 44 film makers expresses “ ‘shock and outrage’ over the omission (italics mine) of ‘Roger & Me.’ ” Again, nonsense.

Nothing is excluded or omitted. First of all, we as committee members do not exclude, omit or nominate films. We judge them. We judge films based on merit and we vote our opinions. We do not know what the nominees will be when we have completed our judgments.

“Roger & Me” is, to quote the film makers’ letter, “this year’s most visible, biting documentary.” It is true that it is the year’s most visible documentary. It is probably this century’s most visible and certainly the most lucrative documentary, if not the most famous. Is it the best? That is a very subjective question. It was, however, not excluded or omitted. It was judged by a group of fair-minded individuals and its relative merits in the voting found that it was not a nominee.

DAVID SAXON, Van Nuys