Other updates include guidelines on the use of AI and eligibility for refugee filmmakers
The upcoming 98th Oscars have a new set of rules and guidelines approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Academy members are now mandated to watch all nominated films within a category in order to be eligible to vote in the Oscar’s final round. In the past, members were only encouraged to view the nominee but not required. According to the Associated Press, movies watched by voters were seen as a major element in which film won, while members have confessed in the past to not watching “notable films or not finishing lengthier nominees.” While the move is seen by some as long overdue, how the Academy will enforce the new rule is currently unclear.
The eligibility requirement for best international film category has also been expanded to include filmmakers with refugee or asylum status. The rule now reads: “The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens, residents, or individuals with refugee or asylum status in the submitting country.”
Other significant updates include a preliminary round of voting to determine a shortlist of 10 films for the new Achievement in Casting Oscar, and branch members will be invited to watch a “bake-off” event of the shortlisted films, including a Q&A with nominees. The Academy also ruled that artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in filmmaking “neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination,” and that each branch “will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award.”
Earlier this month, the organization announced that it would finally include a Stunt Design Oscar starting in 2027, at the 100th Academy Awards.
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