The move in recent years to make the Oscars a truly global event in terms of the membership drive by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has paid off particularly well this year: Eligible voters from a record 93 countries submitting ballots in the Academy Awards’ nominating round, which ended Tuesday at 5 p.m. PT.
That number is up significantly from last year’s 79 countries. The Academy also said it broke the overall turnout record for all members participating — and by a significant margin.
Academy president Janet Yang and CEO Bill Kramer shared the news with members Wednesday in an email while further encouraging them to tune in to the nomination announcement January 23 at 5:30 a.m. PT/8:30 a.m. ET, and also to make a major effort to see all the nominated films before final balloting begins February 22.
What this strong international showing means for the eventual nominees will become apparent next week when nominations are revealed, but there is strong speculation that among the 10 Best Picture nominees there could be a rarity with at least two foreign-language productions in Neon’s Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall and A24’s Cannes Grand Prix winner The Zone Of Interest. The latter is also expected to have a spot in Best International Feature Film, while the former was passed over by France which instead submitted another Cannes winner, The Taste of Things. As in recent years, the Oscar Best Director race is also expected to perhaps have one spot for a filmmaker from the international community. Recent examples have been Korea’s Bong Joon-ho, Denmark’s Thomas Vinterberg, Sweden’s Ruben Östlund, Japan’s Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Poland’s Paweł Pawlikowski and Mexico’s Alfonso Cuarón among others, reflecting the global tastes of the ever-evolving Academy.
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Below is the text of Yang and Kramer’s email:
Dear Academy Members,
Thank you for voting for this year’s Oscar nominations!
With your participation, ballots were submitted from a record-breaking 93 countries. The nominations reflect the tireless work and incredible dedication of so many Academy members, Academy staff, and others within our global film community.
The nominees in all 23 award categories will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, at 5:30am PT/8:30am ET. You can watch the announcement live on Good Morning America, Oscars.org, Oscar.com, and the Academy’s digital platforms. We hope you will join us.
As a reminder, finals voting begins on Thursday, February 22. It is so important to our filmmakers that you watch all films in contention before you vote. We hope you will continue to visit your local theaters, attend our Academy Membership Screenings and access our Academy Screening Room to watch the nominated films.
Thank you, again, for your devotion and commitment to the Academy and to our film community. We look forward to celebrating with you on March 10!
All our best,
Bill Kramer & Janet Yang