7 interesting things: Best picture

The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only to vote on the final ballot, but also to nominate. During the annual Academy Awards ceremony, Best Picture is reserved as the final award presented and, since 1951, is collected at the podium by the film's producers. The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is considered the most important of the Academy Awards, as it is the final award presented, and represents all the directing, acting, music composing and writing efforts put forth for a film. The Grand Staircase columns at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, where the Academy Awards ceremonies have been held since 2002, showcase every film that has won the Best Picture title since the award's inception 83 years ago. On June 14, 2011, AMPAS announced that the number of nominees would vary between five and ten films starting with the 2012 ceremony, provided that the film earned 5% of first-place votes during the nomination process. (more from wikipedia).

'The Artist' earns best-picture Oscar; Streep, Dujardin win lead-acting prizes

LOS ANGELES ? "The Artist" won five Academy Awards on Sunday including best picture, becoming the first silent film to triumph at Hollywood's highest honors since the original Oscar ceremony 83 years ago. Among other prizes for the black-and-white ...
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