Rule Twelve
Special Rules for The Documentary Awards
I. DEFINITION
An eligible documentary film is defined as a theatrically released non-fiction motion picture dealing creatively with cultural, artistic, historical, social, scientific, economic or other subjects. It may be photographed in actual occurrence, or may employ partial re-enactment, stock footage, stills, animation, stop-motion or other techniques, as long as the emphasis is on fact and not on fiction.
II. CATEGORIES
The Documentary Awards are divided into two categories:
1. Documentary Feature - films more than 40 minutes in running time, and
2. Documentary Short Subject - films 40 minutes or less (including all credits) in running time.
III. ELIGIBILITY
1. To be eligible for award consideration for the 2005 awards year, a documentary film must be theatrically exhibited (within two years of the film's completion date) between September 1, 2004 and August 31, 2005 as described in ¶ IV.
2. A film that is primarily a promotional film, a purely technical instructional film, or an essentially unfiltered record of a performance does not meet the definition of a documentary film and will not be considered eligible.
3. Only individual documentary films will be considered eligible for the Documentary Awards. This excludes from consideration:
a) episodes extracted from a larger theme series,
b) segments taken from a single "composite" program,
c) alternate versions of ineligible films (short or feature-length), and
d) short subject documentaries created from materials substantially taken from or cut down from publicly exhibited (in commercial theaters, festivals, and/or television), completed feature-length documentaries.
4. An eligible documentary film must have significant dialogue or narration in English, or the film must have English subtitles.
5. Short documentaries must be contractually available for theatrical release for six months after receiving nominations, unless they have met the conditions in rules IV and V.3.
IV. THEATRICAL EXHIBITION REQUIREMENTS
1. The Qualifying Exhibition: The film must be publicly exhibited for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in either Los Angeles County or the Borough of Manhattan in New York for a run of at least seven consecutive days, between 10 am and midnight, by means of 16mm, 35mm or 70mm film or in a 24- or 48-frame progressive scan digital format (minimum native resolution 1280 by 1024 pixels, with pixel bit depth, color primaries, and image and sound file formats suitable for exhibition in commercial Digital Cinema sites), delivered to the screen by an image and sound file format suitable for existing Digital Cinema sites.
2. In addition to the Qualifying Exhibition, the film must have theatrical runs in at least four additional cities, each engagement to be a minimum of two consecutive days. All screenings of the film must begin between 10:00 AM and midnight, and must commence by the day nominations are announced for the 2005 awards year. If this requirement is not met, then ¶ V.4 below shall apply .
3. The film must be advertised or exploited during its commercial run in a manner considered normal and customary to the industry.
V. TELEVISION AND INTERNET TRANSMISSIONS
1. No type of television or internet transmission shall occur at any time prior to the first day of the Qualifying Exhibition.
2. No type of television or internet transmission shall occur within the six months following the first day of the Qualifying Exhibition unless the film meets all the provisions described in the following paragraph (V.3).
3. The film may be transmitted via television or the internet after the Qualifying Exhibition if it meets both of the following conditions: 1) a minimum of 25 commercial public exhibitions for paid admission in motion picture theaters, each exhibition to be at least two consecutive days, in fifteen states. (Exhibitions held at festivals, benefits, special events and the like do not qualify under this provision.) 2) an official Academy form that documents the above exhibitions must be submitted and received by the Academy Awards office prior to any television or internet transmission.
4. If the minimum additional theatrical exhibition requirements of ¶ IV.2 are not met, then the submitted film must be withheld from television or internet transmission until the day nominations are announced for the 2005 awards year. Should the film be nominated, it must be withheld from television or internet transmission for an additional six months following the day nominations are announced, unless the provisions described in ¶ V.3 are met.
VI. SUBMISSIONS
1. A screening information form for the theatrical 7-day Qualifying Exhibition must be filed with the Awards office before the exhibition run begins. Upon completion of the run, a letter of validation from the exhibitor must be filed with the Awards office (no later than September 1, 2005, 5:00 PM PDT). For any nominated documentary film fulfilling rule IV.2 above, Letters of Validation from four exhibitors must be filed with the Academy Awards office within five business days from the day nominations are announced for the 2005 awards year. If validation letters are not received by this deadline, then rule number V.4 shall apply.
2. By 5:00 PM PDT of September 1, 2005, entrants must have submitted to the Academy:
a) a completed entry form
b) an English-language synopsis of the motion picture
c) the theatrical exhibition plan
d) the film's complete credits list (as it appears on screen)
e) filmographies of the director(s)/producer
f) 20 VHS/NTSC videocassettes or 20 DVDs
g) Theatrical Rollout form if applicable
h) proof of qualifying
FOREIGN ENTRIES MUST ALSO COMPLY WITH THIS RULE .
The videocassettes or DVDs submitted to the Academy must be the final product, without trailers or other extraneous content. These materials should be marked "Documentary Entry" and shipped PREPAID to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90211-1972.
3. SEMI-FINAL ROUND: Films that reach the semi-final round of voting must submit 30 additional VHS/NTSC videocassettes or 30 DVDs and two film prints. The prints submitted to the Academy must be composite film prints, identical in content and length to the print or data essence utilized for the qualifying exhibition. The deadlines for delivery to the Academy of these additional materials are: for Short Subjects, Monday, October 24, 2005; for Features, Thursday, December 1, 2005.
VII. VOTING
1. All eligible documentaries will be screened by Documentary Branch Screening Committees. The Preliminary Screening and Semi-Final Committees will be made up of active and life members of the Documentary Branch who serve on a volunteer basis.
2. Nominations will be determined by an averaged point system of voting using 10, 9.5, 9, 8.5, 8, 7.5, 7, 6.5 or 6. Those films receiving an average score of 8.0 or more shall be eligible for nomination. There may not be more than five nor fewer than three nominations.
3. Final voting shall be restricted to active and life Academy members who have viewed all of the nominated achievements in a theatrical setting. Viewing Documentary entries on videocassette or DVDs will NOT qualify a member for voting purposes in the Final voting stage of these categories, with the exception of Screening Committee members who have participated in the Preliminary and/or Semi-Final voting process.
4. The Documentary Branch Executive Committee shall determine and resolve all questions of eligibility.
5. Every award shall be conditioned upon the delivery to the Academy of one print or one copy of every film nominated for final balloting for all Academy Awards. Such print or copy shall be in a format and of a quality equivalent to the film’s theatrical release; if a film exists in more than one format, then the version deposited shall be the film print. Such print or copy shall become the property of the Academy, with the proviso, however, that the Academy shall not use such print or copy for commercial gain. Such print or copy shall be deposited with the Academy and, subject to matters not within its control, shall be screened by the Academy for the membership in advance of distribution of final ballots. (Academy Bylaws, Article VII, Section 6)
VIII. ADVERTISING / PUBLICITY
Only films that receive nominations or Awards may refer to their Academy endorsements in advertising and publicity materials. A film that is selected for inclusion in the Semi-Final round competition may not identify itself as an "Academy Award Finalist," "Academy Award Short-list Film" or the like . Nominated or Award-winning documentary short subjects which are subsequently modified to run longer than 40 minutes may not be advertised as Academy Award-nominated or -winning pictures.
IX. OTHER
1. The award recipient(s) should be the individual(s) most involved in the key creative aspects of the filmmaking process. To this end, receipt of a statuette shall be limited to two persons, one of who must be the credited director who exercised directorial control, and the other of whom must have a producer or director credit. If a producer is named, that person must have performed a major portion of the producer functions in the following five areas: acquisition and development; pre-production; production; post-production; marketing and distribution (see A Documentary Producer Definition, @ obtainable from the Academy). Production companies or persons with the screen credit of executive producer, co-producer, associate producer, produced in association with, or any credit other than that of director or producer, shall not be eligible to receive a statuette on behalf of the film. In the case of a dispute, the Documentary Branch Executive Committee, appointed each year, shall determine and resolve all questions.
2. Films submitted for Documentary Awards consideration may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories if they meet the specified requirements. However, documentaries may not qualify for the Best Live Action Short Film category, nor will any film submitted for the Documentary Award be eligible for consideration in any category in subsequent awards years. An Animated Documentary Short Subject may be submitted in either the Documentary Short Subject category or the Animated Short Film category, but not both.
