Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced the winners of the 2025 “Honor” Oscar, which will be announced at the governor’s awards ceremony in November just a few months before the Academy Awards.
Awards at the ceremony are divided into three categories: Jean Halfute Humanity Award. Irving G. Talberg Memorial Award. Gives “creative producers who consistently reflect high quality film production.” The Academy Honorary Award was given for “an exceptional lifetime achievement, exceptional contribution to the arts and science of any discipline, or outstanding service to the Academy.”
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This year, the Academy will honor his Dolly Parton with the Jean Helholt Humanian Award, with Tom Cruise, Debbie Allen and Winn Thomas honorary Oscars. There are no plans to win the Irving G. Talberg Memorial Award at the November ceremony.
How is the “honor” Oscar different from traditional ones?
As Ampas points out, the Honorary Oscars have been “announced since the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929.” They were given to acknowledge special achievements by people within the film industry, or those who support or promote the art of cinema.
These honorary awards were presented at the exact same ceremony as the competition awards up to 2008. However, it was moved to its own ceremony in 2009, when the Governor’s Committee received its first Governor’s Award.
“The Governor Award was established to balance the desire to truly respect valuable individuals and to avoid the time limits that the Oscar Telecast places on these honors,” reads an archive version of the Academy’s website.
Unlike the Main Academy Awards, the recipients of the Governor’s Award honors are decided by the AMPAS Board of Directors, rather than by the Academy’s thousands of voting members. The group currently includes 55 governors, whose experiences range from previous work on camera (Marlee Matlin, Lou Diamond Phillips) to production and technical aspects (including costume designer Ruth E. Carter, Director Ava Duvernay, and producer Jason Blum).
Despite being determined by separate groups, honorary Oscar winners will be awarded the same Oscar statue as those who received the competition award.
Who is eligible for the Honorary Academy Award?
There are few strict restrictions on who can win the Academy Honorary Award, but it is usually given to recipients who have not won an Oscar.
“Except in exceptional circumstances, competitive Oscar winners cannot win an Honorary Award,” reads part of the “Abert” section of the Governor’s Award.
That doesn’t mean that it’s not happening. Several actors and filmmakers, including James Stewart, Federico Fellini and Sidney Poitier, were given honorary Oscars after winning their statue decades ago.
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The Jean Hersholt and Irving G. Thalberg awards also do not appear to have such strict restrictions. For example, in 2010, after winning several Academy Awards in the 1970s, Francis Ford Coppola received the Irving G. Talberg Memorial Award. And in 2013, Angelina Jolie was awarded the Jean Helholt Humanitarian Award for 10 years after winning the Oscar-backed actress Oscar for “Girls, Discontinued.”
However, the Academy says that the Honorary Awards “cannot be voted after death.” The board itself is not eligible to receive it.
When will the next Governor’s Awards ceremony be?
The upcoming Governor’s Award will take place on November 19th at the Raidleby Ballroom in Hollywood, California. As traditionally, several figures from the film industry have been chosen to present and honor this year’s winners.
Clips for the Governor’s Awards are often made during Oscar TV broadcasts, with speeches being made available on the academy’s YouTube page after the event. Unfortunately, however, the Governor’s Awards are not a live televised event. This is the fact that some people in the film industry have been lamenting for years.
Film journalist Daniel Joy is one of those seeking better coverage of the Governor Award, and more specifically the Maine Oscar’s return to television. Written for Rogerebert.com in 2022, Joyaux argued that bringing the Honorary Award back to television broadcasts can create “viral moments” that attract viewers who have not yet seen the Oscar-nominated film.
“In an age where nominated films have constantly and resolute cultural cachets, slices of pie from that era can at least partially be reallocated with honorary awards highlighting films (and film history) that audiences still care deeply about,” Joyaux writes.
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