279 Feature Films Eligible for 75th Academy Awards Consideration

Beverly Hills, CA - The Academy Award(R) for Best Picture of 2002 will be 
chosen from a list of 279 feature-length films.

Nomination ballots and a complete list of the 279 eligible films will be mailed 
next week to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

According to Academy rules, to qualify for consideration a feature-length motion 
picture must have a running length of more than 40 minutes and have been exhibited 
theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format.  The films 
must open in a commercial theater, for paid admission, in Los Angeles County between 
January 1, 2002, and midnight December 31, 2002, and run for seven consecutive days.  
Films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other 
than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for Academy Awards in any 
category.  Official screen credit forms and copies of the main and end title credits must 
have been submitted to the Academy by December 2, 2002.

Films submitted in the Documentary, Foreign Language, Animated Feature and Short Films 
categories have different eligibility requirements and are viewed and selected by 
special voting panels of Academy members.

Oscar nominations will be announced at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 
11, 2003, at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2002 will be presented 
on Sunday, March 23, 2003, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland 
and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5:30 p.m.  
A half-hour arrival segment will precede the presentation ceremony at 5 p.m.

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