Your Name Is Justine is the latest film to fall fowl of the convoluted rules behind the foreign language Oscar.

The co-head of the of Luxembourg's Oscar committee, Joy Hoffmann, said:

"We're not outraged or anything like that but it would be fair to say we're disappointed -- it's a good movie about an important topic and we were hoping for a little more flexibility," said Hoffman...

..."We knew it was a borderline entry but the point is that without Luxembourg the film wouldn't exist," Hoffman said. "Luxembourg put up about 75 percent of the budget."

According to Daily Variety through United Press International the academy decided that the film was not eligible because it was not created under the direct control of individuals within Luxembourg's borders. I presume that is because 25% of the film budget wasn't from Luxembourg and that the director, Franco de Pena, is Venezuelan born.

Call me crazy, but that doesn't qualify for a foreign film Oscar? Don't you agree that a film foreign to the Oscars should just be made outside of the US?

For those that don't know, this is something that happens again and again, the rules for a Foreign Language Film are far too strict and limiting, and for apparently no good reason. You can read about them in this previous article which talks about how much of a mess it is.