The Oscars
An awards show is presented every year to celebrate the best in the film industry.
The Academy Awards first began on May 16th, 1929. Throughout time, it has grown internationally in popularity and success. What was first a small awards ceremony that was a "dinner party for around 250 people held in the Blossom Room of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California," has quickly become a success in recognizing the best of the best in the film industry (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-academy-awards-ceremony).
The "Academy" is a group of prestigious individuals who are considered motion picture professionals. Every year, the Academy votes on the best movie, actor, actress, cinematographer, director, documentary, etc. There are 24 different categories that the academy is able to vote on, and the only categories that the Academy can vote on are if the members specialize in a specific field. For example, cinematographers can only vote on cinematography, writers can only vote on screenplays, etc. These movies that are voted on are usually shown at film festivals throughout the year, some being the Sundance Film Festival, TIFF, and the Cannes Film Festival.
For a movie to be nominated for an Academy Award, "a film has to be shown must be publicly exhibited for paid admission for at least one week at a commercial theater in Los Angeles County between January 1st and midnight of December 31st of that year." (https://www.britannica.com/art/Academy-Award) The only exception to this rule are documentaries, short films, and foreign language films.
The Golden Statuette
A Golden Statuette is given to every recipient of the Academy Awards.
The Academy Award, better known as an Oscar, is a golden statuette given to the recipient of a specific category. Over time, the statue has been changed. "Due to a metal shortage during WWII, Oscars were made of painted plasters for three years" (https://www.oscars.org/oscars/statuette#:~:text=Best%20Actress%20win.-,THE%20STUFF%20THAT%20DREAMS%20ARE%20MADE%20OF,for%20gold%2Dplated%20metal%20ones). This was the only time in Oscar history where they had to change the original making of the award. The statuette usually stands at 13 inches tall, made of solid bronze which is then plated in gold. The statuette weighs about 8.5 pounds, but the weight has varied over its history. There have only been a little over 3,000 Oscars given out in its prestigious history, so coming across one is very hard to come by. If you aren't in the movie business, you can find Academy Awards around the United States in different museums and exhibits.
