awards
Oscar Academy tightens requirements for category “Best Picture”
Oscar statues stand out at the press preview of the Governor’s Ball for the 92nd Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre. photo
© Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/dpa
With the changed editions, the Academy hopes to attract more viewers to the cinema again. Streaming providers in particular are affected by the new regulation.
The Oscar Academy in Beverly Hills has tightened the requirements for films vying for the Oscar in the top category Best Picture. According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, all contenders in this category must now have been in a cinema longer than before in order to qualify for the following year’s Oscar nomination.
So far, the condition was that films were shown in a cinema in one of six US metropolises for at least one week by the end of the year. This running time on the screen is now being extended. The Film Academy stipulates cinema screenings on an additional seven days in at least ten US metropolises from 2024.
Streaming providers are particularly affected
These conditions for a longer theatrical run only apply to candidates in the top category “Best Film”, but not for the other 22 categories such as direction, screenplay or acting achievements.
It is their declared goal to celebrate and appreciate the art of film, according to a statement from Academy boss Janet Yang and managing director Bill Kramer. They hoped that these requirements for additional film screenings would bring more viewers back to the cinema.
Streaming providers such as Netflix, Apple TV+ or Amazon, who often only plan a short release of their films in cinemas, are particularly affected. Apple TV+’s “CODA” in 2022 was the first streaming production ever to win the top Oscar for best picture.