The 2026 Oscar nominations were revealed recently; however, a question arises about how the nominees are selected.
The process used by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences starts with a submission deadline first.
Once the submission deadline is passed the phase of voting begins. The voting stage consists of two phases, the first phase usually occurs in December where the members vote and shortlist films and individuals in all categories.
After shortlisting voting is done again and the films and individuals are nominated.
The voters are the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The organisation consists of 20 branches representing directors, actors, producers, writers, editors and others
These members are not able to vote in every category during the nomination phase; they will only be allowed to vote in the fields they belong to and in addition on Best Animated Short film, Best Picture, and Best International Feature Film.
After the nomination phase this rule is not applied when choosing a winner. After the nomination phase any member can vote in any category they like to whomever they like.
Another question here arises: do the members of the organisations have to watch all of the movies in order to vote?
The short answer is no, they don’t.
But for some important categories like the Best International Feature Film, Best Animated Short Film and the Best Live Action Short Film it is mandatory for the voters to have watched all the nominated films before voting for one of them.
This year, the 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15.
One of the Oscar-nominated films has already made a record by just being nominated. The super hit movie “Sinners” has been nominated for 16 Oscars. It has become the first film in history to receive so many nominations.
Also read: Live Oscar nominations 2026: full list of nominees, everything you need to know
