It’s been 22 years since an individual film has been recognized by the Academy by conferring upon its makers or producers an honorary Oscar. Below is a press release from the Academy presenting a special achievement award on the Virtual Reality documentary “Carne y Arena” from Alejandro G. Iñárritu and others. And while this is technically an art installation, it is, essentially, a motion picture.

The last time this happened, in 1995, it was an individual, John Lasseter, being recognized for shepherding in the first computer animated motion picture Toy Story. And while several individuals have been honored for individual film achievements, you have to go back even further to find individual films recognized rather than the individual.

That occurred 70 years ago in 1947 when two films shared that distinction. Before there was a regular award (honorary or competitive) for Foreign Language Film, Shoe-Shine became teh first that year. The other film was Bill and Coo, which was recognized for “artistry and patience blended in a novel and entertaining use of the medium of motion pictures.”

Here is the latest inclusion in that very exclusive list:

THE ACADEMY’S BOARD OF GOVERNORS AWARDS AN OSCAR® TO ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU’S “CARNE Y ARENA” VIRTUAL REALITY INSTALLATION

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted Wednesday (October 25) to present a Special Award – an Oscar® statuette – to director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s virtual reality installation, “CARNE y ARENA (Virtually Present, Physically Invisible),” in recognition of a visionary and powerful experience in storytelling.

“The Governors of the Academy are proud to present a special Oscar to ‘CARNE y ARENA,’ in which Alejandro Iñárritu and his cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki have opened for us new doors of cinematic perception,” said Academy President John Bailey. “‘CARNE y ARENA,’ Iñárritu’s multimedia art and cinema experience, is a deeply emotional and physically immersive venture into the world of migrants crossing the desert of the American southwest in early dawn light. More than even a creative breakthrough in the still emerging form of virtual reality, it viscerally connects us to the hot-button political and social realities of the U.S.-Mexico border.”

“CARNE y ARENA,” currently on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Fondazione Prada in Milan, and Tlatelolco Cultural Center in Mexico City, is a collaboration between Iñárritu, Lubezki, producer Mary Parent, Legendary Entertainment, Fondazione Prada, ILMxLAB, and Emerson Collective. Katie Calhoon executive produced.
In recognition of this achievement, an Oscar will be presented to “CARNE y ARENA” at the Academy’s 9th Annual Governors Awards on Saturday, November 11, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center®.