The Oscars mandate voters watch all nominated movies, set new rules for
AI and refugee filmmakers
[April 22, 2025]
By JAKE COYLE
NEW YORK (AP) — Oscar voters will no longer be able to skip watching
some of the nominated films.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Monday announced
that members will from now on be required to watch all nominated films
in each category to be eligible to vote in the final round of Oscar
voting. Up until now, Oscar voters had only been encouraged to watch the
nominees, and vote in categories they felt qualified in.
But in recent years, what films get watched by academy members has been
increasingly seen as a significant factor in what wins. At the same
time, the publication of anonymous Oscar ballots has often featured
members confessing that they didn't get around to watching some notable
films or not finishing lengthier nominees.
On Monday, the academy also put forth a handful of new regulations on
issues including AI, refugee filmmakers and the newly launched casting
category.
In the best international film category, the academy will now allow
filmmakers with refugee or asylum status to be represented by a country
not their own. The rule change keeps in place the broad apparatus of how
international nominees are submitted through countries, but it tweaks
eligibility.
The regulation 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.”
Critics have long called on changes to the nominating process for best
international film because it leaves the submission process in the hands
of governments, not the academy. That's left dissident filmmakers
working under authoritarian or undemocratic regimes with limited
pathways to reaching the Oscars.
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 Last year, for instance, the Iranian
filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof fled Iran before he was to be flogged
and imprisoned for eight years in order to release his film “The
Seed of the Sacred Fig.” Germany, where Rasoulof settled, submitted
it for the Oscars and it was nominated. But other filmmakers,
including Rasoulof's friend and countryman Jafar Panahi, have
released films without a mechanism for submission.
The rule change notably won't alter the Oscar
prospects for filmmakers who haven't fled their home countries or
change anything for films passed over by their nation's selection
committees.
The academy also ruled that the use of generative artificial
intelligence tools “neither help nor harm the chances of a
nomination.” How significantly AI is used in filmmaking has, as in
other industries, been a much-debated topic in Hollywood. In this
year's Oscar race, Brady Corbet's “The Brutalist” was a subject of
some controversy after its editor said that AI had been used to
enhance the Hungarian dialogue of stars Adrien Brody (who ultimately
won best actor ) and Felicity Jones (who was nominated for best
supporting actress).
“The academy and 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,” the academy said
Monday.
The film academy also set down some rules for its new achievement in
casting Oscar. After a preliminary round of voting to determine a
shortlist of 10 films, members of the casting branch will be invited
to a “bake-off” presentation from the shortlisted films, including a
Q&A with nominees.
Earlier in April, the academy announced a new category for stunt
design, but that award won't begin until the 2028 Oscars.
Next year's Academy Awards will be held March 15, 2026, with Conan
O'Brien returning to host the ABC telecast.
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