The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced sweeping rule changes Friday for the 99th Oscars, scheduled for March 14, 2027 — overhauling how acting nominations work, drawing an explicit line against artificial intelligence, and dismantling the decades-old structure of the Best International Feature Film category in what amounts to the most significant reforms in the ceremony’s recent history.
Actors may now receive nominations for multiple performances within the same category — lead or supporting — provided those performances place among the top five vote-getters. The shift brings the acting races in line with how every other Oscar category already functions.
For years, campaign teams exploited the old single-nomination rule by strategically placing strong performances in the supporting category to prevent vote-splitting — a practice widely known in the industry as “category fraud.” The last major acting rule change came at the 17th Academy Awards in 1945, when Barry Fitzgerald received nominations in both lead and supporting for the same role in Going My Way, prompting the Academy to restrict each performance to one nomination. That restriction now ends.
The AI provisions carry equal weight. The Academy stated that only roles “demonstrably performed by humans with their consent” qualify for acting nominations, while screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible for writing awards. Academy CEO Bill Kramer described the moves as smart and progressive, saying the institution must think carefully about how it invites international films into the conversation as it becomes more global. The Academy also reserved the right to request additional information about human authorship on any submitted work.
The international category reform may prove the most structurally consequential change. Films may now qualify either through official country submission or by winning the top award at one of six designated festivals: Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Busan, Sundance and Toronto.
The move directly addresses years of controversy. Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall won the Palme d’Or in 2023 but was not submitted by France, yet went on to earn five Oscar nominations including Best Picture. Iranian dissident directors Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof faced similar obstacles, requiring European co-productions to enter the race at all.
The award will now be credited to the film rather than the country, with the director’s name appearing on the statuette for the first time — a recognition that Oscar had never previously extended to international feature winners. Other changes include expanding the cinematography shortlist to a fixed 20 films and increasing the maximum number of casting statuettes from two to three.
