RULE THIRTEEN
SPECIAL RULES FOR THE
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM AWARD
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 reenactment, stock footage, stills,
animation, stop-motion or other techniques, as long as the emphasis is on fact and not on fiction.
A short film is defined as an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less,
including all credits.
II. ELIGIBILITY
A. To be eligible for awards consideration for the 97th Awards year, a documentary short film must fulfill
one of the following qualifying criteria. The eligibility period begins on October 1, 2023, and ends on
September 30, 2024. This qualification must take place within two years of the film’s completion date.
1. The picture must have been publicly exhibited for paid admission in a commercial motion picture
theater in one of the six qualifying U.S. metro areas: Los Angeles County; City of New York [five
boroughs]; the Bay Area [counties of San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, San Mateo and Contra
Costa]; Chicago [Cook County, Illinois]; Dallas-Fort Worth [Dallas County, Tarrant County,
Texas]; and Atlanta [Fulton County, Georgia], for a run of at least seven consecutive days with at
least one screening a day. The seven consecutive days of the theatrical release are required to
occur in one venue. The picture also must be advertised during its run in a manner normal and
customary to theatrical distribution practices.
All eligible motion pictures must be publicly exhibited by means of 35mm or 70mm film, or in a 24-
or 48-frame progressive scan Digital Cinema format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048
by 1080 pixels, source image format conforming to ST 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 files packaged as Digital Cinema Packages (DCPs) in the “SMPTE
DCP” format. SMPTE DCP refers to SMPTE ST 429-2:2020 D-Cinema Packaging – DCP
Operational Constraints and related specifications. (Blu-ray format does not meet Digital Cinema
requirements.)
The audio in a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) is typically 5.1 or 7.1 channels of discrete audio.
The minimum for a non-mono configuration of the audio shall be three channels as Left, Center,
Right (a Left/Right configuration is not acceptable in a theatrical environment). In addition to
channel-based audio, object-based audio may also be present as an immersive audio bitstream.
The discrete audio data shall be formatted in conformance with SMPTE ST 429-3:2007 D-
Cinema Packaging – Sound and Picture Track File, SMPTE ST 428-2:2006 D-Cinema
Distribution Master – Audio Characteristics and SMPTE ST 428-12:2013 D-Cinema Distribution
Master Common Audio Channels and Soundfield Groups. Immersive audio, if present, shall be
formatted in conformance with SMPTE ST 2098-2:2019 Immersive Audio Bitstream Specification
and SMPTE 429-18:2019 D-Cinema Packaging – Immersive Audio Track File and packaged in
conformance with SMPTE 429-19:2019 D-Cinema Packaging – DCP Operational Constraints for
Immersive Audio.
Student films cannot qualify with a theatrical release.
OR
2. The film must have won a qualifying award at a competitive film festival, as specified in the
Documentary Short Film Qualifying Festival List, regardless of any prior public exhibition or
distribution by nontheatrical means. Proof of the award must be submitted with the entry. The
Documentary Short Film Qualifying Festival List is available at www.oscars.org or may be
obtained from the Academy.
OR
3. The film must have won a Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal award in the Academy’s 2024 Student
Academy Awards competition in the Documentary category.
B. Works that are essentially promotional or instructional are not eligible, nor are works that are
essentially unfiltered records of performances.
C. Only individual documentary works are eligible. This excludes from consideration such works as:
• multi-part or limited series,
• episodes extracted from a larger series,
• segments taken from a single “composite” program,
• alternate versions of ineligible works, and
• documentary short films created from materials substantially taken from or cut down from
completed, publicly exhibited feature-length documentaries.
D. Films that, in any version, receive a nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution before their
qualifying theatrical release as defined in Paragraph II.A.1 above will not be eligible for
Academy Awards consideration. Nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution includes but is not
limited to:
• Broadcast and cable television
• Pay Per View/Video on Demand
• DVD distribution
• Inflight airline distribution
• Internet transmission
Up to fifteen percent of the running time of a film is allowed to be shown in a nontheatrical medium
prior to the film’s theatrical release.
Films qualifying under Paragraph II.A.2 or II.A.3 above are exempted from this rule.
III. SUBMISSION
A. Entrants must complete the online submission form located on the Academy’s Awards Submission
site, and submit to the Academy the digital upload of the film for streaming purposes, as well as all
submission materials.
B. The short film submitted for Academy Awards consideration must be identical in content and length to
the print or DCP that qualified.
C. Dialogue or narration must be substantially in English or the film must have English-language
subtitles. Entrants must refer to the Academy Screening Room Guidelines for any additional required
materials.
D. For films qualifying between October 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, entrants must submit all
submission materials, including the digital upload of the film for streaming purposes, by 5 p.m. PT on
Thursday, August 15, 2024. For films qualifying between July 1, 2024, and September 30, 2024,
entrants must submit all submission materials, including the digital upload of the film for streaming
purposes, by 5 p.m. PT on Thursday, October 10, 2024.
E. If a short film advances to the second round of voting, additional materials including a film print or
DCP of the film will be required after the shortlist is announced. Shortlisted films must have the
necessary clearances for commercial theater exhibition. Festival clearances are not sufficient.
F. The Academy will retain for its archives one film print or DCP of every short film receiving a
nomination for final balloting. The Academy will have the right, but not the obligation, to create a
preservation copy of the picture at its own expense. By submitting a film, the filmmaker agrees that
the Academy has the right to make copies and distribute them for voting purposes only.
G. No short film may be submitted more than once for Academy Awards consideration. A short film
must be submitted in the same Awards year in which it qualifies.
IV. NOMINEES AND AWARD RECIPIENTS
A. The nominee(s) should be the individual(s) most involved in the key creative aspects of the
filmmaking process. A maximum of two persons may be designated as nominees, one of whom
must be the credited director who exercised directorial control, and the other of whom must
have a director or producer credit. If a producer is named, that individual must have performed a
major portion of the producing functions, in accordance with Academy producer criteria. Production
companies or persons with the screen credit of executive producer, co-producer or any credit other
than director or producer shall not be eligible as nominees for the motion picture.
B. All individuals with a “producer” or “produced by” credit on films that reach the semifinal round will
automatically be vetted. The Documentary Branch Executive Committee will determine which
producer, if any, is eligible to receive a nomination. In the unlikely event of a dispute, filmmakers may
appeal the Committee’s decision.
V. VOTING
A. All active and life members of the Documentary Branch will be invited to view the eligible submissions
in the category and will be required to see a minimum number as defined by the current procedures.
Members will vote by secret ballot in the order of their preference for not more than fifteen motion
pictures. The fifteen motion pictures receiving the highest number of votes shall advance to the next
round of voting.
B. To determine nominations, all active and life members of the Documentary Branch will be invited to
view the fifteen shortlisted Documentary Short Films. A member must see all shortlisted films for the
ballot to be counted. Members shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five motion
pictures. The five motion pictures receiving the highest number of votes shall become the
nominations for final voting for the Documentary Short Film award.
C. Final voting shall be restricted to active and life Academy members who have viewed all of the
nominated documentaries.
D. The Documentary Branch Executive Committee shall resolve all questions of eligibility and rules.
