The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will require voters to watch every nominated film before casting ballots and will add new rules covering artificial intelligence and refugee filmmakers, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The three-pronged package spans voting mechanics, technology policy, and eligibility — three areas where the Academy has shifted toward formalized standards in recent years.

What does the watch-all-nominees rule change?

The mandate requires Academy members who vote in any category to have screened every nominee within that category. Members have long attested to viewing the full nominee slate, but the new standard moves the requirement from pledge to enforceable rule.

The change targets the gap between declared voting preferences and confirmed viewership. Voting in the Academy's competitive categories is concentrated among the largest branches — actors, directors, producers, and writers — where busy shooting schedules and limited screeners have historically constrained full viewing. The new rule effectively retires the "vote-the-favorite-only" practice that has shaped Best Picture outcomes for decades.

Why new AI rules now?

Generative AI tools entered mainstream film, animation, and post-production work starting in 2022, opening questions the Academy's rulebook had not anticipated. The new provisions define when AI-assisted and AI-generated work qualifies for Oscars consideration, including which category such work enters.

Hollywood's three major guild contracts — SAG-AFTRA, WGA, and DGA — finalized terms in 2023 that preserve human authorship as a prerequisite for performance, writing, and directing credits. The Academy's new provisions align with that framework, treating AI tools as production aids rather than authorship substitutes.

What changes for refugee filmmakers?

The refugee filmmaker rules extend eligibility to directors and writers whose careers were disrupted by displacement. The provision carves out a pathway for artists cut off from national film industries by war, persecution, or asylum status.

The provision parallels refugee eligibility paths adopted by the European Film Academy and several Asian and African film bodies in recent years. It also responds to industry support efforts for displaced filmmakers since 2022, including Ukrainian directors unable to release work through pre-war national channels. The provision could open the international feature category to applicants whose national film industries have effectively paused operations.

When do the rules take effect?

The Academy has not announced an effective date for any of the three changes. The annual nominations cycle opens voting in late January ahead of the ceremony in late February or early March.

What do the rules mean for the race?

A mandatory viewing rule strengthens the leverage of specialty and international titles whose Oscar performance depends on direct member exposure. AI provisions clarify the category-placement question studios have addressed inconsistently across recent submissions. The refugee rules widen the talent pool for the directing and writing branches without restructuring existing international or feature categories.

The combined package signals the Academy's intent to enter the late 2020s with enforceable, transparent standards in three zones where informal practice had previously governed.