Rules

ELIGIBILITY

For a given year's awards (e.g. 2012 awards), all the films:


 * watched between January 1 of the previous year and June 30 of that given year (e.g. Jan. 1, 2011 - Jun. 30, 2012) and:


 * that were released in the previous year (e.g. 2011, going by IMDb date except in exceptional cases) or:


 * that were released two years before (e.g. 2010) but weren't considered in the previous year of the given year's awards because they had not been watched

will be considered for nominations.

Only long films (films that last 40 minutes or more, taking into account the time taken by the credits) will be considered for all categories, with the exception of the Best Short Film category.

The categories in which the films considered can vie for a nomination are:


 * BEST PICTURE

1. A minimum of 5 (five), up to 10 (ten) films will be determined each year for a Best Picture nomination based on their quality.

2. The Best Picture award will be given to the film with the most outstanding quality in filmmaking in all aspects; the film which will represent the given year from now on.

3. The nomination and award is received by the film. This means no person involved in the production of the film can be deemed a Ragward winner if their film is awarded in this category, but the film itself gets the award.

4. Whenever the 40% or a greater percentage of these films is composed by films not in the English language, the Foreign Language Film category will be deactivated and the category of Grand Academy Prize will be activated.


 * GRAND ACADEMY PRIZE

1. The Grand Academy Prize award will be activated when 40% or a greater percentage of the films nominated for the Best Picture award are films not in the English language.

2. The Grand Academy Prize is awarded to the second best film of the year.

3. The nomination and award is received by the film. This means no person involved in the production of the film can be deemed a Ragward winner if their film is awarded in this category, but the film itself gets the award.
 * BEST DIRECTOR, BEST ACTOR, BEST ACTRESS, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Five nominees will be determined for each of these categories based on the quality of the respective artistic duty: directing, acting in a leading role and acting in a supporting role, respectively.


 * 1.a. There may be one or more nominees with one or more nominations in the same category, if their work deserves it so.

2. The placement of a particular performance in the leading or supporting category will be determined by the Academy based on screen time and importance of the character in the development of the story. The Academy reserves the right to determine where to place any performance.

3. The nomination and award is received by the person(s) responsible for the respective artistic duty: the director(s) and the actors, respectively.


 * ACTING ENSEMBLE

1. Five films will be determined for a nomination based on the quality of the acting of the whole cast, but greater importance will be given to those performances of actors playing the most importante characters in the film.

2. The nomination and award is received by the film. This means no person involved in the production of the film (not the casting director nor the actors) can be deemed a Ragward winner if their film is awarded in this category, but the film itself gets the award.


 * BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY, BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Ten films will be determined for a nomination based on the quality of the screenplay. Five of those screenplays must be original and five must be adapted.

2. An adapted screenplay is the one that is consciously based on fictional material published on another medium, such as a book, a magazine, television, the internet or another film.


 * 2.a. The screenplays for sequels will not be considered adapted screenplays as long as they feature original stories.


 * 2.b. The screenplays for remakes and reboots are considered adapted screenplays, as long as they have the same basic story as the original film they are remaking or rebooting.

3. An original screenplay is the one that is not consciously based on any fictional material published on any other medium. It may be based on non-fictional material, such as a documentary or a news report.

4. The nomination and award is received by the screenplay writer(s) and story creator(s).


 * BEST SCORE

1. Five films will be determined for a nomination based on the quality of their original score and its pertinence to the story.

2. Films that feature original score and music taken from somewhere else may be eligible but only the original score will be considered for the nomination and award.

3. The nomination and award is received by the composer(s) of the original score.


 * BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1. Five nominees will be determined for a nomination based on the quality of the original song and its pertinence to the story.

2. The songs must have been created specifically for their use in the films. The lyrics and the music must be original.

3. The nomination and award is received by the performer(s) of the song and the writer(s) of the song.


 * BEST EDITING, BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST VISUAL EFFECTS, BEST MAKE-UP, BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1. Five films will be determined for a nomination in each of these categories (with the exception of the make-up category, which carries 3 [three] nominees by default) based on the quality of the respective artistic duty: editing, production design (art direction), cinematography, visual and special effects, make-up and hair, and costume design.

2. The nomination and award is received by the person(s) responsible for the respective artistic duty: the film editor(s), the production designer(s) or its equivalent, the cinematographer(s), the chief(s) of the visual and special effects department(s), the main make-up and hair artist(s), and the costume designer(s).


 * BEST ANIMATED FILM

1. Three films will be determined each year for a Best Animated Film nomination based on their quality.

2. The film must be predominantly animated in whatever technique, with more than 50% being animated and less than 50% (preferably 0%) being live action.

3. The nomination and award is received by the film. This means no person involved in the production of the film (not anyone from the company responsible, nor the director or the producer) can be deemed a Ragward winner if their film is awarded in this category, but the film itself gets the award.


 * BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

1. Five films will be determined each year for a Best Foreign Language Film nomination based on their quality.

2. Any film that features more than 50% of its dialogues not in the English language is considered a foreign language film.

3. This category will be deactived whenever 40% or more of the Best Picture nominees are foreign language films. Instead, the Grand Academy Prize category will be activated.

4. The nomination and award is received by the country(ies) that assisted in the production of the film (according to IMDb information, except in exceptional cases).


 * BEST DOCUMENTARY

1. Five films will be determined each year for a Best Documentary nomination based on their quality.

2. A documentary is any film which is predominantly non-fictional.

3. The nomination and award is received by the film. This means no person involved in the production of the film can be deemed a Ragward winner if their film is awarded in this category, but the film itself gets the award.


 * BEST SHORT FILM

1. Five films will be determined each year for a Best Short Film nomination based on their quality.

2. Any film that lasts less than 40 minutes (including the time taken by the credits) is considered a short film, regardless of its nature (documentary, animated, fiction) and genre.

3. Musical videos may be considered for the Best Short Film category if they feature a story and spoken dialogues in addition to the music (e.g. Ragward winner "Kanye West's Runaway").

3. The nomination and award is received by the film. This means no person involved in the production of the film can be deemed a Ragward winner if their film is awarded in this category, but the film itself gets the award.


 * BEST COMEDY/MUSICAL FILM

1. Five films will be determined each year for a Best Comedy/Musical Film nomination based on their quality. The films nominated must be either comedies or musicals, or both.


 * 1.a. The film must have the intention of being a comedy in ordered to be considered a comedy. The Academy reserves the right to decide which films are comedies and which films are not.


 * 1.b. The film must feature at least 4 (four) songs sung by the characters with lyrical content related to the story in order to be considered a musical. The Academy reserves the right to decide which films are musicals and which films are not.

2. The nomination and award is received by the film. This means no person involved in the production of the film can be deemed a Ragward winner if their film is awarded in this category, but the film itself gets the award.


 * BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM

1. Five films will be determined each year for a Best Action/Adventure film nomination based on their quality. The films nominated must be either action films or adventure films, or both.

2. The nomination and award is received by the film. This means no person involved in the production of the film can be deemed a Ragward winner if their film is awarded in this category, but the film itself gets the award.

GENERAL RULES

1. The Academy can decide, based on the quality and quantity of the competitors, whether the number of nominations in any given category is 3 (three) or 5 (nominees). There may no be less than three, more than 5 or 4 nominees in any category, except Best Picture, which allows up to 10 nominees.

2. The Academy can decide, based on the quality and quantity of the competitors, to deactivate any category in any given year, except the Best Picture category.

3. The Academy full list of nominees is announced and published on July 1st each year, and the winners are announced and published on July 2nd each year.

4. If any of the Ragward winners wish to claim their prize, they may do so by contacting The Academy and the Ragward will stop being an imaginary prize for that person. The prize will be determined by The Academy and it may be edible.

5. All hail The Academy.