The Chicago Film Critics Association said Friday that it would resume its 2003 awards balloting, ending a protest against Hollywood’s distribution of Oscar-contending films.
The 48-member critics group had suspended its awards after the Motion Picture Association of America stopped sending special DVDs and videotapes of Oscar contenders to various movie-awards voters. The MPAA said it imposed the so-called screener ban to protect the movies from being copied and distributed illegally. A federal judge overturned the ban early this month.
The ban’s opponents said the embargo would have kept smaller films and companies attached to the MPAA from receiving wider recognition.
On Friday the Chicago Film Critics board voted unanimously to restore the awards and said that review copies already were in the hands of local critics.
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The Tribune’s Michael Wilmington is a member of the Chicago Film Critics board.
