Every awards season brings predictions, campaigns and arguments about which film deserves to win. Behind all of that is a fairly detailed rulebook. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences publishes its rules each year, and knowing the basics makes the season far easier to follow.

Who votes

The Academy is made up of members organised into branches, such as actors, directors, writers, cinematographers and editors. In most categories, nominations are decided by the members of the relevant branch: actors nominate actors, editors nominate editing, and so on. Best Picture is different, because all voting members can nominate in that category.

Once nominations are announced, the final round is open to all voting members across nearly every category. That means an editor votes for the winner of Best Actress, and an actor votes for the winner of Best Sound. In recent years the Academy has added a requirement that members must have seen all the nominated films in a category to vote in that category in the final round.

What makes a film eligible

For general eligibility, a feature film must have a theatrical qualifying run. For the 99th Oscars, the Academy's rules require a run of at least seven consecutive days, with at least one screening a day, in a commercial theatre in one of six U.S. metro areas: Los Angeles County, New York City, the Bay Area, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta. The film must be advertised and shown in the normal way for a theatrical release during that run.

Best Picture has additional requirements. The Academy's special rules call for an expanded theatrical run in nine additional markets from its list of the top 50 U.S. markets, for a total of at least ten, with screenings of at least seven days in each. That expanded run must happen within 45 days of the qualifying run. The rules also include inclusion standards that Best Picture contenders must meet. These requirements are one reason streaming services now give their awards contenders theatrical releases.

The nomination rounds

Some categories go through a preliminary round and a shortlist before nominations. International Feature Film, documentary categories, visual effects and several others work this way. Members of the relevant branch or committee narrow the field, then vote for nominees from the shortlist. In most categories, nomination voting uses a preferential method so that the nominees reflect broad support within the branch.

How the winner is chosen

In most categories, the winner is simply the nominee with the most votes in the final round. Best Picture is the exception. It uses a preferential, or ranked-choice, ballot. Voters rank the nominees in order. If no film has more than half of the first-choice votes, the film with the fewest first choices is eliminated and those ballots are moved to each voter's next choice. The process repeats until one film has a majority.

The practical effect is that Best Picture tends to reward films with broad support. A film that many voters rank second or third can beat a film that inspires passionate first-place votes from a smaller group. That is why Best Picture outcomes sometimes differ from what the other categories might suggest.

Campaigns and the rules around them

Studios and distributors campaign for their films with screenings, events, advertising and outreach to members. The Academy publishes campaign regulations each year that limit what is allowed, for example on how members may be contacted and what can be included in mailings. When a campaign practice becomes controversial, the rules are often tightened for the following year.

Key dates

The Academy publishes a calendar each year with submission deadlines, the dates of the nomination voting window, the nominations announcement and the ceremony. For the 99th Oscars, the eligibility period for most categories covers films released in the 2026 calendar year. If you are following predictions, the calendar tells you when the field is settled and when the talk is still speculation.

Reading awards coverage

Predictions are not results. Precursor awards, such as guild awards and critics' prizes, can indicate momentum, but they are voted on by different groups with different rules. Guild members often overlap with Academy branches, which is why guild awards get so much attention, but they are still separate votes.

When you read that a film is "eligible" or "in contention," it is worth asking which category and which requirement is being discussed. The rules for Best Picture, International Feature Film and the craft categories differ in important ways. The Academy's rules documents are public and surprisingly readable, and they are the best source when a claim sounds uncertain.

Why it matters

The Oscars influence careers, box office and streaming viewership, and they shape which films are remembered. Understanding the process does not settle debates about which film should win, but it does explain why some films win, why others are left out, and why the rules keep changing.

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