Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced a slew of rule changes effective with the 99th Annual Academy Awards in 2027. Two categories, specifically, raised eyebrows: Acting and International Feature. With the Acting rule change, the Academy will allow actors to be nominated for multiple performances in the same category if both performances merit enough votes to be placed in the Top Five. The Academy abolished this opportunity back in 1945, but I immediately thought of Kate Winslet in her The Reader and Revolutionary Road year where she absolutely could have been nominated for Best Actress in both roles. (I preferred her work in Road.)
The International Feature category also saw a major shake up, allowing two methods for a film to be nominated. Non-English language films winning major awards at a qualifying international film festival (think Venice) will be eligible for consideration even if their sponsoring country does not submit them. This skirts the heavy politics that sometimes blocks more popular films from being submitted (such as Anatomy of a Fall). The Oscar winner will also go to the director who accepts on behalf of the creative team, rather than the country itself.
Our own International Feature expert Frank J. Avella spoke with me after the announcement and welcomes the change. However, he posits that, if there are many more submissions thanks to the festival circuit addition, then they should have considered expanding the category to 10 nominees. International Feature remains capped at 5 nominees.
There are also major Academy stances on AI-based entertainment and its eligibility in the Oscar race. Acting and Writing rule changes specify that only human-created art will be eligible.
The full list of today’s 2027 Oscars rule changes follows, courtesy of AMPAS.
- In the Acting category, 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 category, 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.
