"The Passion of the Christ" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" will not be eligible for best picture at the Golden Globe Awards, the Los Angeles Times said Tuesday.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced Mel Gibson's blockbuster will be eligible for a best foreign-language picture nomination and Gibson will be eligible for best director. "The Passion of the Christ" will be ineligible for best picture because HFPA rules allow only English-language movies to compete for best picture and the dialogue in Gibson's movie is in Aramaic with subtitles.
Michael Moore's anti-Bush movie is ineligible for best picture because it is a documentary and HFPA rules do now allow documentaries to compete for best picture.
The rulings may complicate both movies' chances for Academy Awards, since the Golden Globes are widely regarded as a precursor to the Oscars. Moore has taken "Fahrenheit 9/11" out of consideration for the Oscar for best documentary.
The HFPA will announce this year's Golden Globe nominations Dec. 13. The awards will be presented Jan. 16 -- one day after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences closes the polling for Oscar nominations.
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