When the Academy Award nominations were unveiled last week, producer credits for Best Picture nominee The Reader were yet to be announced. A press release issued today revealed the reason for that delay; would the Academy contradict its own contentious policy of awarding only three producer credits per film?
The answer is, yes. Four producers — instead of the Academy rule of three per film — are nominated for The Reader: Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris, Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack.
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Minghella and Pollack, whose influence on the Stephen Daldry film has been much discussed in recent months, will receive the posthumous nominations in an exception to the Academy rule. Both passed away during the tumultuous production, yet Daldry and other filmmakers have respectfully noted each producer’s contributions to the film, notably Minghella’s, who originally intended to direct The Reader himself.
This will be Pollack’s seventh Oscar nomination (he won two for directing and producing 1985’s Out of Africa) and Minghella’s fourth nomination (he won once before for directing 1996’s The English Patient).
The Reader is also nominated for Best Actress (Kate Winslet), Best Adapted Screenplay (David Hare), Best Director (Stephen Daldry), and Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins and Chris Menges).
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