The choices of India's entry for a best international feature film Oscar by the Film Federation of India have often come under the scanner. Take All We Imagine As Light (2024), for instance. When the FFI announced Laapataa Ladies as India's official Oscar entry at the time, many questioned this decision and regarded the non-selection of director Payal Kapadia's drama as a major snub. Such situations are set to end, now that the Academy has announced a list of new Oscar rules.
According to the new rule changes, there is now more than a single way to submit a film for Academy Award consideration in the aforesaid category. Besides the FFI's submission pathway, if a foreign language film wins a specific award at an eligible festival, it can be submitted for an Oscar in the category. Qualifying awards for the 2027 Oscar comprise Golden Bear for Best Film at Berlin International Film Festival, Busan Award - Best Film Award at Busan International Film Festival, Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival, World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival, Platform Award at Toronto International Film Festival and Golden Lion at Venice International Film Festival.
Another change in the foreign language film category is that the Academy will recognise the specific film in the nominee list rather than the originating country. Further, the Oscar statuette plaque will mention the name of the winning film, followed by that of the director and, if applicable, of the nation.
The Academy has also made major rules changes in the main categories. For Best Actor, it is possible for an actor to be nominated more than once as long as the performances concerned appear "in the top five votes," aligning with accomplishments "in other award categories". The Academy has made AI actors ineligible for an Oscar in the said category. The organisation wrote, "In the Acting category, only roles credited in the film’s legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible."
Likewise, the latest Oscar rules mandate scripts to be human-written to qualify for an Academy Award in 'the Writing categories'. The Academy has also announced other rule changes and key dates, including submission deadlines.