I. DEFINITION
An eligible documentary film is defined as a theatrically released nonfiction 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 2007 Awards year, a documentary film must complete its Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition between September 1, 2006, and August 31, 2007, within two years of its completion date, must be projected by means of 16mm, 35mm or 70mm film or in a 24- or 48-frame progressive scan format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels; source image format conforming to SMPTE 428-1-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Image Characteristics; image compression (if used) conforming to ISO/IEC 15444-1 (JPEG 2000), and image and sound file formats suitable for exhibition in commercial Digital Cinema sites, OR legacy Digital Cinema equipment as previously defined by the Academy, i.e., minimum native resolution 1280 by 1024 pixels with pixel bit depth, color primaries, and image and sound file formats suitable for Digital Cinema sites, and must meet the requirements described in Rule Twelve.
2. An exhibition is defined as follows: All screenings must be held in a commercial motion picture theater for paid admission and must begin between noon and 10 p.m. An exhibition must be advertised and exploited in a manner considered normal and customary to the industry. During an exhibition, a feature documentary film must be screened at least twice daily and a short subject documentary film must be screened at least once daily. Exhibitions held at festivals, benefits, special events and the like do not fulfill this requirement.
3. A film that is primarily a promotional film, an industrial or instructional film, or an essentially unfiltered record of a performance is not eligible.
4. 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 completed, publicly exhibited (in theaters, festivals, and/or television), feature-length documentaries.
5. Significant dialogue or narration must be in English, or the film must have English subtitles.
IV. FEATURE DOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTS
1. The Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition: Feature documentaries must complete an exhibition, as defined in Paragraphs III.1 and III.2 between September 1, 2006 and August 31, 2007 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, at least twice daily. A letter verifying the Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition and documentation of advertising and exploitation must be received by the Awards Office no later than Tuesday, September 4, 2007.
2. The Multi-State Theatrical Rollout: In addition to the Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition, feature documentaries must complete a Multi-State Theatrical Rollout consisting of 14 other exhibitions, as defined in Paragraph III.2, of at least three consecutive days each, at least twice daily, in any standard commercial format. These exhibitions must be distributed among ten or more states in the U.S. and must be completed by Thursday, November 15, 2007.
3. The Multi-State Theatrical Rollout Form, as well as documentation of advertising and exploitation, must be received by the Awards Office by Thursday, November 15, 2007.
4. Television and Internet Transmissions: A feature documentary film is not permitted to have any type of television or Internet transmission until 60 days after the first day of its Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition, and until the completion of its Multi-State Theatrical Rollout. No type of television or Internet transmission shall occur at any time prior to the first day of the Qualifying Exhibition.
V. SHORT SUBJECT DOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTS
1. The Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition: A short subject documentary film must complete an exhibition between September 1, 2006 and August 31, 2007 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, as defined in Paragraphs III.1 and III.2. A letter verifying the Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition and documentation of advertising and exploitation must be received by the Awards Office no later than Tuesday, September 4, 2007.
2. A short subject documentary film must also satisfy one of the following two requirements:
a) Multi-City Theatrical Rollout: In addition to the Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition as defined in Paragraph III.2, the short subject documentary film must complete a Multi-City Theatrical Rollout consisting of exhibitions of at least two consecutive days each in at least four additional cities in the U.S., in any standard commercial format. The Multi-City Theatrical Rollout must be completed by Tuesday, September 4, 2007.
b) Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition Only: If a short subject documentary film completes the Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition only, it must be withheld from television or Internet transmission until 180 days following the day nominations are announced.
3. For a short subject documentary film that has qualified by means of a Multi-City Theatrical Rollout, the Multi-City Theatrical Rollout Form, as well as documentation of advertising and exploitation, must be received by the Awards Office by Tuesday, September 4, 2007.
4. A short subject documentary film must be contractually available for theatrical release during the 180 days following the day nominations are announced.
5. Television and Internet Transmission:A short subject documentary film is not permitted to have any type of television or Internet transmission until 60 days after the first day of its Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition, and until the completion of its Multi-City Theatrical Rollout. As indicated in V.2.b, if a short subject documentary film qualifies by means of the Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition only, it must be withheld from television or Internet transmission until 180 days following the day nominations are announced. No type of television or Internet transmission shall occur at any time prior to the first day of the Qualifying Exhibition.
VI. SUBMISSION
1. A Theatrical Screening Information Form notifying the Academy of the Seven-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 5 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, September 4, 2007.
2. By 5 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, September 4, 2007, entrants (including foreign entrants) must have submitted to the Academy:
a) a completed Official Entry Form
b) a brief English-language synopsis of the motion picture
c) a complete list of the film’s credits as they appear on screen
d) filmographies of the director(s)/producer eligible to receive Academy Awards
e) 25 Region 1/NTSC DVDs. ** Labels may contain film title, director(s)/producer credits, and running time only. **
f) for Feature Documentaries, the Multi-State Theatrical Rollout Form, if completed
g) for Short Subject Documentaries, the completed Multi-City Theatrical Rollout Form, if applicable
h) a letter of validation for the Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition
i) clippings of published advertisements and listings documenting the Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition
j) representative still(s) from film
k) the Documentary Award Disclosure Form
l) a listing of upcoming theatrical exhibitions (optional)
** NOTE: The above-mentioned DVDs submitted to the Academy must be the final product, without trailers or other extraneous content. Please mark these materials “Documentary Entry” and ship PREPAID to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90211-1972.
3. SEMIFINAL ROUND: All documentaries that reach the semifinal round of voting must submit two film prints and 35 additional Region 1/NTSC DVDs, without trailers or other extraneous content. The prints submitted to the Academy must be composite film prints, identical in content and length to the version used for the Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition. The deadlines for delivery to the Academy of these additional materials are: for short subject documentaries, Monday, October 22, 2007; for feature documentaries, Monday, December 3, 2007.
VII. VOTING
1. All eligible documentaries will be viewed by Documentary Branch members who serve on a volunteer basis.
2. Feature Documentaries: Five nominations will be determined by a preferential voting system.
Short Subject Documentaries: Three to five nominations will be determined by an averaged point voting system.
3. Final voting shall be restricted to active and life Academy members who have viewed all of the nominated documentaries in a theatrical setting. Viewing documentary entries on videocassettes or DVDs will NOT qualify a member for voting purposes in the final voting process, with the exception of Screening Committee members who have participated in the preliminary and/or semifinal voting process.
4. Every award shall be conditioned upon the delivery to the Academy of one print of every film nominated for final balloting for all Academy Awards. Such print shall be in a format and of a quality equivalent to the film’s Seven-Day Qualifying Exhibition. Such print shall become the property of the Academy, with the proviso, however, that the Academy shall not use such print for commercial gain. Such print 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.
VIII. SPECIAL ADVERTISING / PUBLICITY RESTRICTIONS
Only documentaries that receive nominations or Academy Awards may refer to their Academy endorsements in advertising and publicity materials. A film that is selected for inclusion in the semifinal round competition may not identify itself as an “Academy Award finalist,” “Academy Awards shortlist film” or the like in its individual marketing or publicity. However, in a program consisting of a group of films, all of which have reached the Academy’s semifinal round, that fact may be noted in the advertising and publicity for the event. Nominated or Award-winning short subject documentaries that are subsequently modified to run longer than 40 minutes may not be advertised as “Academy Award-nominated” or “Academy Award-winning” pictures.
IX. OTHER
1. 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 whom 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; preproduction; production; postproduction; and marketing and distribution (see “Documentary Producer Definition,” obtainable from the Academy).
2. 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.
3. Documentaries submitted for Documentary Awards consideration may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories if they meet the specified requirements. However, short subject documentaries are not eligible for the Best Live Action Short Film category. An animated short subject documentary may be submitted in either the Best Documentary Short Subject category or the Animated Short Film category, but not both. Documentaries submitted for any 2007 Awards categories will not be eligible for consideration in any Awards categories in subsequent Awards years.
4. In the case of a dispute, the Documentary Branch Executive Committee shall resolve all rules interpretations and all questions of eligibility.
