Submissions to the 99th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
Submissions are open now to the 99th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. Last year there were 86 eligible and qualified submissions from around the world. The Oscar went to Norway's Sentimental Value, directed by Joachim Trier. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay
The category was previously called the Best Foreign Language Film, but this was changed in April 2019 to Best International Feature Film, after the Academy deemed the word "Foreign" to be outdated.
Beginning with the 99th ceremony, rules were changed to the submission process allowing non-English-language films to be submitted if it wins a qualifying award at an international film festival. These festivals and its specific awards qualifiers will be the following:
Berlinale (Golden Bear), Busan (Best Film Award), Cannes (Palme d'Or), Sundance (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize), Toronto (Platform Prize) and Venice (Golden Lion).
For the 99th Academy Awards, the submitted motion pictures must have been first released theatrically in their respective countries between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026.
The deadline for the submissions is September 30, 2026. The Academy is scheduled to announce a list of eligible submissions in October 2025 from which 15 finalists will be shortlisted on December 15, 2026. The final five nominees will be announced on January 21, 2027. The winner will be announced on March 14, 2027 at the Oscar ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
UPDATE:
Here are the submissions for this year:
- Albania - A State Film ★★★★
- Algeria - Roqia
- Argentina - The Virgin of the Quarry Lake
- Armenia - In the Land of Arto
- Australia - First Light
- Austria - Rose ★★★★
- Azerbaijan -Taghiyev: School
- Bangladesh - Roid
- Belgium - Coward
- Bolivia - The Condor Daughter ★★
- Bosnia & Herzegovina - The Widower
- Brazil - Gugu's World
- Bulgaria - The Dreamed Adventure
- Cambodia - Becoming Human
- Cameroon - Mabanda
- Canada - Nina Roza
- Chad - Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars
- Chile - The Meltdown ★★★★
- China - Once Upon a Time in the Middle East ★
- Colombia - Rains Over Babel
- Costa Rica - If We Don't Burn, How Do We Light Up the Night
- Croatia - God Will Not Help ★★★
- Cuba - Malecón ★★
- Cyprus - Hold onto Me ★★★
- Czech Republic - If Pigeons Turned to Gold
- Democratic Republic of the Congo - Rumba Royale
- Denmark - Woman Unknown
- Dominican Republic - Melodrama
- Ecuador - The Ivy
- Egypt - The Stories
- El Salvador - Vértices
- Estonia - Our Erika
- Finland - The Squirrel
- France - Minotaur ★★★★★
- Georgia - Guria
- Germany - Everytime ★★★
- Greece - Broken Vein ★★★★
- Guatemala - Mountains of Fire
- Hong Kong - Sons of the Neon Night
- Hungary - Silent Friend ★★★★
- Iceland - The Ground Beneath Our Feet
- India - Gondhal
- Indonesia - Four Seasons in Java
- Iran - Land of Angels
- Iraq - No Paradise if You Are Killed by a Woman
- Ireland - Aontas
- Israel - Tell Me Everything
- Italy - The Spiral ★★★★
- Japan - All of a Sudden
- Jordan - Sink
- Kazakhstan - Abel
- Kenya - One Woman One Bra
- Kosovo - Dua
- Kyrgyzstan - Cassandra
- Latvia - Ulya ★★★
- Lebanon - Furies
- Lithuania - How to Divorce During the War
- Luxembourg - Child
- Malaysia - The Fox King
- Malta - Zejtune
- Mexico - On the Road
- Mongolia - Independence: Keeper of the Prophecy
- Montenegro - To Hold a Mountain
- Morocco - Strawberries
- Nepal - Elephants in the Fog
- Netherlands - Paikar
- New Zealand - Marama ★★
- Nigeria - Dear Ajayi
- North Macedonia - 17
- Norway - Growth of the Soil
- Pakistan - Hanging by a Wire
- Palestine - Citizen Osama
- Panama - Chichero
- Paraguay - Narciso
- Peru - Night Has Come
- Philippines - Filipiñana ★★★
- Poland - Fatherland ★★★★
- Portugal - The Scent of Things Remembered ★★★
- Romania - Fjord ★★★★★
- Rwanda - Ben'Imana
- Saudi Arabia - A Matter of Life and Death
- Senegal - The Attachment
- Serbia - Wanderlust
- Singapore - We Are All Strangers
- Slovakia - Flood
- Slovenia - Fantasy
- South Africa - Variations on a Theme
- South Korea - Possible Love
- Spain - La Bola Negra ★★★★★
- Sri Lanka - Riverstone
- Sweden - Adult Supervision ★★★★
- Switzerland - Who is Still Alive
- Syria - The Other Side of the Sun
- Taiwan - A Foggy Tale
- Thailand - 9 Temples to Heaven
- Turkey - Like a Limbless Tree
- Ukraine - Traces
- United Kingdom - Rehearsals for a Revolution ★★★★
- Uruguay - A Loose End
- Venezuela - Death Has No Master
- Vietnam - Spirit Guardians: The Last Secret of the First Emperor
Qualified in Film Festivals:
- Berlinale - Yellow Letters ★★★★
- Busan - Midday Meal
- Cannes - Fjord ★★★★
- Sundance - Shame and Money
- Sundance - To Hold a Mountain
- Toronto - Angh
- Venice - Woman Unknown
