HOW TO GET OSCAR: KNOW THE PROCEDURES AND ELIGIBILITY

HOW TO GET OSCAR: KNOW THE PROCEDURES AND ELIGIBILITY

  

  

      The 2023 Oscars were a moment of pride for Indians as the song "Naatu Naatu" from RRR won the Best Original Song category, and "The Elephant Whispers" received the award for Best Documentary Short. However, it is important to understand the decision-making process and eligibility criteria behind the Oscars.

The Academy is the organization responsible for managing the Oscars. It consists of writers, producers, actors, directors, and other technicians from the Hollywood film industry. The Academy was proposed by Louis B. Mayer, the founder of MGM Studios.

Becoming a member of The Academy involves being selected by existing members who extend invitations to potential candidates. There are two primary ways to become a member: being nominated for an Oscar at least once or being recommended by two existing members.

Notably, several individuals from the Indian film industry are already Academy members, including Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman, actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Surya, Vidya Balan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Ali Afzal, and some producers.

The Academy Awards, or Oscars, are presented to individuals who excel in the film industry across various categories. While there are 24 award categories, the "big five" are Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted).

There are specific criteria for nominating films for the Oscars. In the case of movies, they must have been screened for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial cinema theater, with thrice-daily screenings, in one of six designated metropolitan areas: Los Angeles County, City of New York, the Bay Area, Chicago, Miami, or Atlanta. There are also requirements related to picture quality, video duration, and more.

Short films, documentaries, and international feature films have their own specific criteria for eligibility and nomination. For the international feature film category, each country can nominate a film, such as India's nomination of the Gujarati movie "Chhello Show" this year.

The voting process for the Oscars involves members of The Academy casting their votes in each category. The nominee with the highest number of votes is selected as the winner. In the Best Picture category, a different process involving multiple rounds of voting takes place, with the winner being the nominee that receives over 50% of the votes.

In the coming years, it is hoped that more Indian films from Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Northeast film industries will rise to the level of receiving Oscars. These industries have the potential to reach new heights and make their mark on the international stage.