As the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its year-end motion picture nominees, one major player in the hunt for awards season glory Alfonso Cuarons semi-autobiographical Netflix dramaRoma was absent from the groups crop of best picture contenders whenGolden Globe nominations were announcedThursday morning.
Despite not receiving a nomination alongsideBlack Panther,BlacKkKlansman,Bohemian Rhapsody,If Beale Street Could Talk, andA Star is Born, the films absence was not a snub on the HFPAs part in that category.
As a contender for best foreign-language film, the project was not eligible to compete in the Globes top category, per HFPA rules.
According to thegroups official guidelines, motion pictures that qualify for the Best Motion Picture Foreign Language award also qualify for awards in all other motion picture categories except Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, which are exclusively for English-language motion pictures, and Best Motion Picture Animated.
The HFPA automatically considers a film to be foreign-language if it contains more than 51 percent non-English dialogue, regardless of its country of production.
Thus, sinceRoma about a domestic worker (Yalitza Aparicio) who bonds with the family she works for amid political and social strife in 1970s Mexico City is told almost entirely in Spanish, the film was automatically disqualified from the competition, though it was still eligible for nominations in other above-the-line categories, receiving nominations for its screenplay and direction while also appearing among the HFPAs list of foreign film nominees.
Earlier this season,Romawas also ineligible to receive a spot on theAmerican Film Institutes top 10 films of 2018list, though the U.S.-focused collective did honor the likely Best Picture Oscar contender with a special award that has gone to foreign productions that have gone on to win the Academys top honor in years past likeThe Kings SpeechandThe Artist.
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