The choice

To be eligible for an award in a given year, a film must be publicly exhibited in a 35 mm or larger-gauge format for paid  admition for at least one week a a commercial theatre in the Los Angeles area between January 1st and midnight of  December 31st of that year. Exceptions to this rule include foreign-language films, which are submitted by their country of origin and need not have been shown in United States.Documentaries and short films have different eligibillty requirements and are officially submitted  by their producers, whereas music awards required the musical artist to file a submission form.

Only members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences may nominate and vote for candidates  for The Oscars. The Academy is divided into various  branches of film productions, and nominees in each award  category are chosen by the members  of  the corresponding  branch; thus, writers nominate writers, directors nominates directors , and so forth. The entire academy membership nominates the candidates for best picture and votes to determine the winners in most of categories.

Aside from bestowing intenational recognition and prestige, an Academy Award can play a crucial role in the success for the major winners. The best picture award, for example, can significantly increase the box office earnings of the winning film. For actors and directors, the award often quickly results in higher salaries and increased  media attention. A long - term advantage is that award winners tend to be offered better pictures and thus receive more acclaim for that work.

Why Oscar?

Officially named the Academy  Award of Merit, the statuette is better known by a nickmane, Oscar, the origins of which aren't clear.

A popular story has been that Margaret Herrick, an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar. After she said so, the Academy staff began calling it Oscar.

By the sixth Awards Presentation in 1934, Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used the name in his column when  he referred to Katharine Hepburn's first Best Actress win. The Academy didn't use the nickname officially until 1939.

The Academy won't know how many statuettes it will actually hand out until the envelopes are opened on Oscar Night. Even though the number of categories and special awards is known  prior   to the ceremony, the possibility of ties and of multiple winners sharing the prize in some categories, makes the exact number of Oscars to be awarded unpredictable.

The Oscar is one of the most recognized  award  in the world. Its success as a symbol of achievement in filmmaking would probably amaze its creators, Cedric Gibbons an George Stanley. As matter of fact, they are so prized that in 2000, only a few weeks before the Academy Awards, The Oscars were stolen while the were being shipped from Chicago. They were recovered  a week later, but not before some nervewracking days had passed.