Alone Yet Not Alone, the most unexpected Oscar nominee of the year, has been stripped of its Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, causing audiences to once again (and probably for the last time) ask themselves, “What the hell is Alone Yet Not Alone?”
Alone Yet Not Alone, a Christian film about two German immigrants taken captive by Native Americans in 1755, had such a tiny theatrical release that not one review has been submitted to Rotten Tomatoes, even two weeks after the film’s surprise nomination for Best Original Song. (Alone Yet Not Alone was scheduled for a wider release this summer.) Many wondered how a film that bypassed nearly everyone’s radar even made into a field that includes “Let It Go” from Frozen, “Happy” from Despicable Me 2, “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and “The Moon Song” from Her.
Now it appears that Alone Yet Not Alone‘s nomination may be the result of illegal lobbying from from Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) Music Branch governor Bruce Broughton, one of the “Alone Yet Not Alone” songwriters. The AMPAS alleges that Broughton e-mailed Academy members promoting the song for nomination, even though Oscar guidelines strictly prohibit direct contact with voters to raise awareness of or directly promote an individual or film for Academy Award consideration. The Academy, which began investigating the film immediately after the surprise nomination, also discovered that Alone Yet Not Alone was not properly advertised during its Academy qualifying run, which is another requirement for consideration.
Bruce Broughton, who wrote the music for “Alone Yet Not Alone” (lyrics written by Dennis Spiegel), explained his e-mails to Studio System News, claiming “I knew people wouldn’t know what the film was so, I wrote a letter to people that I personally knew and thought were a member of the branch to ask them to look for the song, to be aware that there’s a song there. I didn’t ask for anyone to vote for it, I just didn’t want the song to be bypassed.”
The AMPAS has decided not to replace Alone Yet Not Alone‘s nomination with another eligible song, reducing this year’s Best Original Song nominees to four.
Alone Yet Not Alone‘s disqualification is a rarity for The Academy, but given the film’s obscurity, the loss seems unlikely to affect the category’s final winner one way or the other.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
