Arrivals area for the 72nd Annual Academy Awards

Regular awards are presented for outstanding individual or collective efforts of the year in up to 25 categories.

Up to five nominations are made in categories with balloting for these nominations restricted to members of the Academy branch concerned; film editors, for instance, nominate only for Achievement in Film Editing. All voting members may nominate for Best Picture. Awards also are given to the Best Foreign Language film of the Year, a category not represented by a branch. Nominations for awards in this category are made by committees of members drawn from all branches. Final winners are determined by vote of all eligible members.

In addition to the regular annual awards conferred by vote of the membership, the Board of Governors is empowered to vote Scientific and Technical Awards, Honorary Awards, Special Achievement Awards and other honors. Among these is the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, a bronze bust of the legendary producer, which is given to "a creative producer who has been responsible for a consistently high quality of motion picture production." It is considered the highest accolade a producer can receive. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an Oscar statuette, is given to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry." The Gordon E. Sawyer Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry."

In their first year, the Academy Awards were presented at a private dinner in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, with fewer than 250 persons attending. Public interest proved so great, however, that the following year the Academy permitted radio broadcasting of the event. Television added a new dimension in 1953, enabling millions throughout the United States and Canada to watch the ceremonies. Telecasting in color was begun in 1966, bringing home viewers the full sparkle and glamour of the event. Since 1969, the Awards program has been telecast throughout the world, by the mid-1990s reaching movie fans in over 100 countries.