Fox Searchlight has (wisely, I think) decided to tack Hotel Chevalier onto prints of The Darjeeling Limited when the feature expands into wide release this weekend. According to this story in the NY Times, Searchlight is hoping that the short, which “in contrast to the feature, received nearly universal praise when it was shown alongside the longer film at some festivals,” and which has been downloaded legally on iTunes over 500,000 times, will lure audiences who would otherwise wait on Darjeeling for the DVD.

Surely, there will be some rib-cage fetishists who maintain that a big screen is mandatory in order to appreciate that single profile shot of Natalie Portman’s naked body in full, so it’s a gamble that might pay off. But it seems to me that the real crux of the story is the last sentence, in which Lia Miller reports that the studio “also is hoping the short is Oscar-worthy and plans to promote it as a contender in the best live-action short category.” This would be significant, because as far as I know, it would make Chevalier the first short film to garner Oscar attention after officially premiering on the Internet.

But doesn’t AMPAS have rules about that? I know documentaries can’t qualify for Oscars if they’ve been distributed online before meeting their theatrical requirements. I consulted AMPAS’ Live Action Short rules, and found that a Chevalier campaign would be shady proposition at best. More after the jump.

The Academy’s short film rules can be found here. The trouble seems to start right from the beginning, with the stipulation that a short either needs to win first prize at a festival, or must screen in Los Angeles for paid admission for a minimum of three days. Chevalier was not shown in competition at any of the festivals in which it screened, and while I guess Los Angeles ticket buyers will be paying admission to see it starting next weekend, I’m 99 percent sure that the screenings will be billed as Darjeeling screenings. It’s murky territory, but it does seem like the kind of thing the Academy would choose to be hard asses about.

But here’s the really relevant clause:

2. Non-theatrical exhibition (including but not limited to broadcast and cable television, home video sales and Internet transmission) anywhere does not disqualify a film, provided such exhibition occurs after its Los Angeles theatrical release, or after receiving its festival award.

So Chevalier’s iTunes distribution would not have disqualified the film if it had happened after the short met its Los Angeles theatrical run requirements. Even if AMPAS is willing to accept the upcoming Chevalier/Darjeeling double bills as valid for the exhibition clause, it doesn’t change the fact that the short began its public life on the internet, only to hop to theaters once Searchlight figured out they could make money off of Natalie Portman’s ass completed an intense period of soul searching and decided it was the right thing to do.

At worst, if AMPAS allows Searchlight to mount a Chevalier Oscar campaign, it will look a whole lot like they’re bending the rules for a studio, at the expense of the truly independent filmmakers who historically compete in this category amongst themselves. But at best, it could open up a whole new can of worms about the crossover potential of films that begin life on the internet.

Related stories:

Review and coverage of The Darjeeling Limited from NYFF.
Why Hotel Chevalier shouldn’t be confused with softcore.