The time Brazil was disqualified from the Oscars due to a disagreement

Despite having appeared a few times throughout the Oscar’s almost 100 years of existence, Brazil has never won a gold statuette. On one occasion, we came very close to winning the coveted “golden bald spot”, but Pixote: The Law of the Weakestlong Héctor Babenco released in 1980, it ended up being disqualified due to a disagreement.

Brazil has already been nominated for the Best Foreign Film category – today known as Best International Film – on four occasions: in 1963, with The Promise Payer (1962); in 1996, with The Quadril (1995); in 1998, with What is this fellow? (1997) and, in 1999, with Central Brazil (1998). However, it was in 1982 that the country came closest to winning… Just when it ended up being disqualified.

Pixote: The Law of the Weakest was the film selected by Embrafilme to compete for an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Film in 1982. However, since the beginning of the 1980s, the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, responsible for the Oscar, had left its rules to the stricter foreign films, limiting the release window for films from other countries.

For a foreign film to compete for the 1982 Oscar, it had to be released in its country of origin between November 1, 1980 and October 1, 1981, remaining at least seven days in theaters with ticket sales.

When it debuted in the United States in 1981, Pixote: the Law of the Weakest had a very positive reception from the public and critics, with the name of the actress Marília Pera even being considered for a separate nomination in the awards.

However, what seemed like a dream about to become reality ended up turning into frustration. A few days after Brazil confirmed the film’s submission as a candidate for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, the Academy sent a telegram to Embrafilme informing that the film did not meet the requirements for its release date in Brazil and, therefore, was disqualified.

Embrafilme then requested a meeting with the Academy to understand the reason for the disqualification and the explanation came: Pixote: the Law of the Weakest It would have debuted in Brazil in September 1980, when it could only have been released from November of that same year.

Embrafilme representatives claimed that the supposed early release of Pixote: The Law of the Weakest in Brazil it was a “preview” – as stated in the Academy’s regulations -, which, in their understanding, was a preview.

However, for the Academy, the word “preview” it meant a test screening or, at most, a very exclusive event, such as a screening of the film for sponsors or the cast, and considered that the film had, in fact, been released before the permitted period. With that, the Oscar campaign was dismantled and the golden statuette once again became a distant dream.

Even outside the Oscars, Pixote: The Law of the Weakest managed to be nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1982, but lost the award to the British Chariots of Fire (1981). In the biggest cinema award, the “golden bald” went to the Hungarian Mephisto (1981).

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