2021 Oscars Gets New Date

2021 Oscars Gets New Date

By Vanessa Obioha

Due to the strains of the coronavirus on the global film industry, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said on Monday that it would push back the next Oscars ceremony to April 25, 2021. The award ceremony was earlier scheduled for February 28.

The Academy had in April announced that it was going to allow movies that were unable to have a theatrical run but streamed on commercial platforms or video-on-demand service to participate in the award. It is the first time the global film awards would allow streamed films to participate, even in its Best Picture category.

The eligibility window for films has also been extended to February 28, instead of December 31.

“Our hope, in extending the eligibility period and our awards date, is to provide the flexibility filmmakers need to finish and release their films without being penalized for something beyond anyone’s control,” David Rubin, the Academy’s president, and Dawn Hudson, the organization’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Also, the Academy said that its Governors Awards, at which lifetime achievement Oscars are handed out and which is not televised, would not take place this fall as planned. It promised to release more information on other changes and selection of the honourees on a later date.

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