Oscars fixes major voting loophole after nearly 100 years

Oscar statuettes appear backstage at the Oscars in Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2017. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK — 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.

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.

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press