After it was revealed that the British Film and Television Academy refused to nominate either the Welsh or Scottish language films that are eligible for entry into the Oscar's foreign language film category, there was a little rise in the British press.

Well it seems like the murmur is building, and reaching further than the British coastline as Anthony Tranchina, a diplomat for the U.S. State Department, has sent a letter to BAFTA as a private citizen, stating exactly what I was talking about the other day.

The Scotsman carries an excerpt from his letter:

“I was extremely disappointed by Bafta's decision," he wrote. "Bafta's selection committee was obviously poorly instructed. They were entrusted with the responsibility of choosing the best non-English-language film to send to the Oscars. I do not understand why they were given the option to not send any film at all.”

Exactly. Why not nominate anything? I'm inclined to spend some time going through the list of British/English films that they have nominated for other categories in the past and see what rubbish they've put forward before, because you can guarantee there have been some dodgy decisions before.

So why not now? I think it's time that BAFTA either reverse their decision or explain it rather than hurting non-English language film-making in Britain.