Alternative Film Guide

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová’s ballad "Falling Slowly," from John Carney’s Irish-made romantic musical Once, remains in the running in the Best Original Song category of the 2008 Academy Awards.

Several days ago, questions had arisen about the song’s eligibility because before Once came out different versions of "Falling Slowly" had been featured in two music albums and in the trailer of the Czech movie Kráska v nesnázích / Beauty in Trouble, as reported by Una Mullally in the Dublin Sunday Tribune.

However, last night the Academy’s music branch declared that "Falling Slowly" qualified as an "original song" written specifically for Once.

As reported in the New York Times, Charles Bernstein, Chairman of the Music Branch Executive Committee, stated that "the Academy’s music branch executive committee has met and endorsed the validity of ‘Falling Slowly’ as a nominated achievement. The committee relied on written assurances and detailed chronologies provided by [the] songwriter of ‘Falling Slowly,’ the writer-director of Once and Fox Searchlight.

"The genesis of the picture was unusually protracted, but director John Carney and songwriter Glen Hansard were working closely together in 2002 when the project that became Once was discussed. ‘Falling Slowly’ began to be composed, but the actual script and financing for the picture was delayed for several years, during which time Mr. Hansard and his collaborator Marketa Irglova played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility."

Bernstein added that the Academy "needed to address whether the song was written specifically for the the film and the second issue was whether it had been played prior to the inclusion in the film — did this constitute a reason to ineligible-ize it. The first issue was satisfied by a [sic] sworn statements attesting to the fact that it was written for the film along with a chronology, and the second issue was settled by the fact that it had only been performed in Europe and the Czech Republic [sic] and not in a way that would have given it advantage or influence here."

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