BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The holiday season is high time for film fans. The year’s best pictures hit theaters, awards buzz begins and cold weather and extra days off make for perfect moviegoing conditions. Still, some of the world’s biggest cinephiles might enjoy this season more than most: As the newest members of the film academy, they’ll be voting on the Oscars for the first time.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited 135 actors, animators, art directors, cinematographers, documentarians, producers, publicists, writers and other filmmakers to join its ranks in 2010, and their first-ever Oscar ballots were being mailed out Monday.