Limited to: feature films that have played in at least one theater in Los Angeles and New York during the previous year.  (Rules are different for shorts and documentaries.)  In the best foreign-language film category, one film is submitted per country. Five nominees are selected in each category. 
Type of honor: gold-plated statuette, presented annually in March.
Selected by: Approximately 5,000 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, all of whom are past or current professionals in the Hollywood film industry.  Nominations are made by individual branches (actors nominate actors, editors nominate editors, etc.) or by special committees, but the winners are chosen by the full membership, with certain exceptions or restrictions (documentaries, foreign language films, etc.).
Sponsored by: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
Announced: Third week of March (in 1999, will from the traditional Monday evening to Sunday evening). Ceremonies traditionally begin at 6 p.m., P.S.T., and in recent years have been held at either the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion or the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Nominees are announced at 5 a.m., P.S.T., on the second Tuesday in February, at the Academy's main facilities in Beverly Hills.
Web sites: Official Academy Awards/Oscar Site, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) (same site at www.oscars.org and www.ampas.org).
 

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