Kiss the Future, the documentary produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, is going to get a shot at Oscar recognition after all.
The Academy today reversed its earlier decision declaring the film ineligible on the basis of not meeting qualification criteria. As of this morning, the documentary directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain appears in the Academy Screening Room, allowing documentary branch members to consider it for Best Documentary Feature.
“I’m very happy to learn from the Academy that they changed their decision,” Cicin-Sain told Deadline exclusively. His documentary centers on the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s and how beleaguered residents of the city drew inspiration from the music of U2 as they attempted to survive years of war, sniper attacks and deprivation.
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“There were so many people who shared their personal traumas and joys in the telling of this story,” Cicin-Sain said, responding to the Academy’s decision today. “I feel they deserve to have as many platforms as possible to get their story into the world. And the Academy Awards has the ability to greatly amplify a story and get it attention.”
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Deadline understands the reversal came as a result of a standard administrative review by the Academy committee that considers matters of eligibility. Initially, the documentary branch executive committee ruled the film ineligible because it didn’t not play three times a day for a week on the same screen in a qualifying city, as stipulated in published Oscar rules. Damon and Affleck had written to the Academy pointing out that the film received a wide release, playing on more than 100 screens in AMC theaters. Cicin-Sain argued that more than met the spirit of Academy rules intended to ensure films get a theatrical release.
The film, produced independently, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2023. It later debuted on Paramount+. The documentary includes heartfelt recollections of Sarajevans who went through the siege, as well as interviews with Bono and other members of U2 recalling their memories of that time. The band played a triumphant concert in Sarajevo after the siege finally was broken, following U.S. intervention in the war in the former Yugoslavia.
Cicin-Sain tells Deadline he doesn’t have the budget for an awards campaign on behalf of the film, but will now attempt to raise the money to do so.