The path to the Oscar: how the award works

The 97th Academy Awards ceremony will take place this Sunday, March 2, 2025, celebrating the greatest achievements in world cinema. This year, the awards will hold special significance for Brazil, with major representatives competing in important categories. To better understand the behind-the-scenes processes of this award, we detail some facts and curiosities about one of the most important moments in the seventh art.

How to become a voting member of the Academy

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is composed of cinema professionals who contribute to the selection of nominees and winners of the Oscars. Currently, the Academy has over 10,000 members, of which just over 90% are voting members. To become a voting member, one cannot simply apply; an invitation is required. This invitation can be obtained in two main ways:

Recommendation by current members: A candidate can be recommended by two active members of the Academy who belong to the same professional branch as the candidate. For example, an aspiring director needing membership must be nominated by two directors who are already members. Following the recommendation, the respective branch committee evaluates the candidate and, if approved, the Academy's Board of Governors issues a formal invitation.

Oscar nomination: Professionals who have been nominated for an Oscar are automatically considered for membership and do not need sponsors. However, the final decision on membership still lies with the Board of Governors.

Upon joining the Academy, the new member is placed in the branch corresponding to their professional field.

Divisions of the Academy

The Academy is structured into different branches, each representing a specific area of film production. Each branch has specific criteria for admitting new members, reflecting the particularities of each professional field. Currently, there are 20 branches, including:

• ACTORS – Actors

• ANIMATION – Animation

• ARTIST REPRESENTATIVES – Artist Representatives

• CASTING DIRECTORS – Casting Directors

• CINEMATOGRAPHERS – Cinematographers

• COSTUME DESIGNERS – Costume Designers

• DIRECTORS – Directors

• DOCUMENTARY – Documentary

• EXECUTIVES – Executives

• FILM EDITORS – Film Editors

• MAKEUP ARTISTS AND HAIRSTYLISTS – Makeup Artists and Hairstylists

• MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS – Marketing and Public Relations

• MUSIC – Music

• PRODUCERS – Producers

• PRODUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY – Production and Technology

• PRODUCTION DESIGN – Production Design

• SHORT FILMS – Short Films

• SOUND – Sound

• VISUAL EFFECTS – Visual Effects

• WRITERS – Writers

Requirements for a film to be nominated for an Oscar

For a film to be eligible for an Oscar nomination, it must meet a series of requirements established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Some of the main criteria include:

Theatrical release: The film must have been commercially shown in a theater in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, or Atlanta for at least seven consecutive days, with at least three daily showings (where at least one must occur between 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM).

Duration and format: Feature films must be at least 40 minutes long and in a standard projection format.

Release date: The film must have been released within the eligibility period defined by the Academy, generally between January 1 and December 31 of the year preceding the ceremony.

Compliance with the rules of each category: Some categories, such as Best International Feature and Best Documentary, have additional specific rules.

Inclusion and representation: Starting in 2024, the Academy has implemented new diversity and inclusion standards for the Best Picture category, requiring films to meet criteria related to on-screen representation, production team composition, and talent development opportunities.

Voting system: nominations and awards

The Oscar voting process occurs in two main stages:

Nominating Phase: In this phase, members of each branch nominate professionals or works within their own area. For example, only directors can nominate candidates for the Best Directing category. The exception is the Best Picture category, where all Academy members can vote.

Final Voting Phase: After the nominees are announced, all voting members can participate in selecting the winners in all categories. For the Best Picture category, a "preferential voting" system is used, where voters rank films in order of preference. In other categories, the winner is determined by the most direct votes.

The preferential voting system and its controversies

In the Best Picture category, the preferential voting system can lead to unexpected results. In this method, voters rank films in order of preference. If no film receives more than 50% of the first-choice votes, the film with the fewest votes is eliminated, and votes are redistributed based on the voters' second choice, and so forth, until a film achieves the required majority. This means that a film that was not the first choice for the majority can end up winning if it consistently ranks as the second or third choice, raising debates about the fairness of this system.

Brazilian members of the Academy

Brazilian representation in the Academy has grown in recent years, currently having around 60 members. Among the professionals participating in the Oscar voting are:

• Actors: Fernanda Montenegro, Alice Braga, Wagner Moura, Rodrigo Santoro, Sônia Braga, Selton Mello.

• Directors: Walter Salles, Fernando Meirelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Anna Muylaert, José Padilha, Carlos Saldanha.

• Composers: Carlinhos Brown, Antonio Pinto.

• Cinematographers: Adriano Goldman, Affonso Beato.

• Producers: Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Fabiano Gullane.

• Editors: Daniel Rezende, Felipe Lacerda.

• Documentarians: Emilio Domingos.

• Animators: Alê Abreu.

• Makeup Artists: Anna Van Steen.

• Computer Scientists: Fernando de Goes.

Even with controversies and debates, the Oscar awards continue to be one of the most important events in the film industry, highlighting the diversity and quality of global productions. Beyond recognizing and rewarding the best talents in cinema, it also generates discussions and expectations around the winners.