The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has just made Oscar rule and eligibility changes in the acting and International Film categories that have to rank with the most significant in its nearly 100-year history.
From this point on in the acting categories, both lead and supporting, actors can be nominated for more than one performance in those individual categories if those performances place in the top five votes. In other words, if Leonardo DiCaprio has two great lead performances in the same year, he can now be nominated for both for Best Actor. The same would apply if he also had multiple supporting performances.
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Previously, unlike every other category, if an actor had movies that gained two or even three of the top five votes, only the performance that got the most votes would be eligible. The Academy’s Board of Governors now has thrown that stipulation out the window to match the way other categories always have operated. In 2000, for example, Steven Soderbergh was nominated for Best Director for Erin Brockovich and Traffic, winning for the latter. The same thing now can happen in acting categories. If an actor has an extremely prolific year, might we even see someone swallow up three of the five nominations? Probably won’t happen, but it’s now possible.
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Another seismic and long-overdue change is coming to the International Film category (formerly Foreign Language Film), where there now are two ways to submit a movie for consideration. Previously a film had to be the official selection chosen by the country or region, but now a non-English-language film can be submitted simply by winning a qualifying award at an international film festival. Those festivals and specific awards qualifying this year will be Berlin (Golden Bear), Busan (Best Film Award), Cannes (Palme d’Or), Sundance (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize), Toronto (Platform Award) and Venice (Golden Lion). One recent example would be that France’s Anatomy of a Fall, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes but was not submitted to Oscars by France, now would be eligible as well as the country’s official entry.
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There is another equally eye-popping change in that the International Feature Film category now will be credited as the nominee rather than country or region, as always has been the case The award will continue to be accepted by the director on behalf of the whole creative team, but the director’s name now will be on the statuette plaque. It never was before, and AMPAS didn’t include International Film wins in the official count of how many Oscars that director may have won in other categories. Oscar only counted the wins for individual countries. Ever.
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And wait, there’s more! AMPAS has jumped into the AI conversation in an official way, now clearly stating that only performances “demonstrably performed by humans” will be eligible in acting categories. The same goes in writing categories, which have been codified to say only human-authored screenplays are eligible.
Big day for the Academy and for Oscar. All the changes, including tweaks to campaign rules, are listed below as well as submission deadlines and key dates for the 99th Annual Academy Awards on March 14.
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Substantive awards rules changes include:
In the Acting categories, actors may be nominated for multiple performances in the same category if those performances place in the top five votes, which aligns with achievements in other award categories.
Additionally, in the Acting categories, only roles credited in the film’s legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible.
In the Casting category, the number of statuettes awarded will increase from a maximum of two to a maximum of three statuettes.
In the Cinematography category, the preliminary voting round will produce a shortlist of 20 films rather than 10-20.
In the International Feature Film category, there are now two ways to submit a film for consideration. In addition to a film being submitted as an official selection by a country or region via the Academy-approved Selection Committees, a non-English language film can now be submitted for consideration by winning a qualifying award at an international film festival as specified in the International Feature Film Award Qualifying Festival List. Qualifying festivals for the 99th Oscars® are the Berlin International Film Festival (Golden Bear for Best Film), Busan International Film Festival (Busan Award – Best Film Award), Cannes Film Festival (Palme d’Or), Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize), Toronto International Film Festival (Platform Award) and Venice International Film Festival (Golden Lion).
Additionally, in the International Feature Film category, the film will be credited as the nominee rather than the country or region, and the award will be accepted by the director on behalf of the film’s creative team. The director’s name will be listed on the statuette plaque after the film title and, if applicable, the country or region.
In the Makeup and Hairstyling category, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch members must attend at least one of the two final branch meetings (roundtables) to be eligible to vote in the preliminary round.
In the Original Song category, the rules clarify a song’s eligibility when based on its placement in the end credits. For songs submitted as the first new music cue once the end credits begin, the video clip must include the last 15 seconds of the film before the credits begin.
In the Visual Effects category, all Academy members must view the three-minute Before and After reels from the Visual Effects Bake-Off to be eligible to vote in the final round.
In the Writing categories, the rules codify that screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible.
For Governors Awards recipients, a minimum of three disciplines must be represented in a given Awards year.
Under Eligibility (Rule Two) regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence, the Academy reserves the right to request more information about the nature of the use and human authorship.
Awards submission deadlines and additional key dates are as follows:
Thursday, August 13
First submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories
Thursday, September 17
First submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture and Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form
Wednesday, September 30
Submission deadline for International Feature Film
Thursday, October 8
Final submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories
Wednesday, October 14
Submission deadline for Music (Original Song)
Thursday, October 15
Final submission deadline for Documentary Feature Film
Wednesday, November
Submission deadline for Music (Original Score)
Thursday, November 12
Final submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture and Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form
January 8-10
Casting, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound and Visual Effects voting events (bake-offs)
The Academy also updated and clarified formatting and language in the campaign promotional regulations for the 99th Oscars. The campaign promotional regulations specify how motion picture companies and individuals directly associated with Oscars-eligible motion pictures may promote such motion pictures, achievements and performances to Academy members and how Academy members may promote Oscars-eligible motion pictures, achievements and performances.
Substantive changes to the campaign promotional regulations include:
Screenings with Q&A sessions or panel discussions before nominations may now have up to two moderators instead of one moderator.
All eblasts and FYC calendar entries sent to Academy members via an Academy-approved mailing house from a motion picture company, individual associated with an eligible motion picture or Qualifying Film Festival must include an email address or phone number contact for inquiries regarding how members may request accessibility and disability needs or if the theater hosting the screening has proper accommodations.
Awards Rules are formulated by the Awards Committee based on recommendations by Branch Executive Committees, the International Feature Film Executive Committee, and the Scientific and Technical Awards Executive Committee, and are subject to final approval by the Board of Governors.
All rules, regulations and dates for the 99th Academy Awards are subject to change.