Academy Award for Best International Feature

Film

The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known

as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the
Academy Award for Best
Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy International Feature Film
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a Awarded Excellence in
feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States for International Film with a
with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.[1] predominantly non-
English dialogue track
When the first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16,
1929, to honor films released in 1927/28, there was no separate Country United States
category for foreign language films. Between 1947 and 1955, the Presented Academy of Motion
Academy presented Special/Honorary Awards to the best foreign by Picture Arts and
language films released in the United States. These awards, however, Sciences (AMPAS)
were not handed out on a regular basis (no award was given in
1953), and were not competitive since there were no nominees but Formerly Academy Award for
simply one winning film per year. For the 1956 (29th) Academy called Best Foreign Language
Awards, a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Film (until 2020)
Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English First 1947 (awarded to
speaking films, and has been given annually since then.
awarded Shoeshine)
Unlike other Academy Awards, the International Feature Film award Most Parasite (2019)
is not presented to a specific individual (although it is accepted on- recent
stage by its director), but is considered an award for the submitting winner
country as a whole. Over the years, the Best International Feature
Website oscars.org (http://oscar
Film Award and its predecessors have been given predominantly to
European films: out of the seventy-two awards handed out by the s.org)
Academy since 1947 to foreign language films, fifty-seven have
gone to European films,[2] seven to Asian films,[3] five to films from the Americas and three to African
films. Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini directed four Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award–
winning motion pictures during his lifetime, a record that remains unmatched as of 2015 (if Special Awards
are taken into account, then Fellini's record is tied by his countryman Vittorio De Sica).

The most awarded foreign country is Italy, with 14 awards won (including three Special Awards) and 28
nominations, while France is the foreign country with the largest number of nominations (37 for 12 wins,
including three Special Awards). Israel is the foreign country with the largest number of nominations (10)
without winning an award, while Portugal has the largest number of submissions (34) without a nomination.
In 2020 (92nd), South Korea's entrant Parasite became the first International Feature Film winner, and first
non-English film overall, to also win Best Picture.[4]

Contents
History
Eligibility
Submission and nomination process
Recipient
Criticisms and controversies
Winners and nominees
Awards by nation
See also
References
External links

History
When the first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929, no foreign-language film was honored. During
the early post-war era (1947–1955), eight foreign language films received Special or Honorary Awards.
Academy leader and board member Jean Hersholt argued that "an international award, if properly and
carefully administered, would promote a closer relationship between American film craftsmen and those of
other countries". The first foreign language film honored with such an award was the Italian neorealist
drama Shoeshine, whose citation read: "the high quality of this motion picture, brought to eloquent life in a
country scarred by war, is proof to the world that the creative spirit can triumph over adversity". In the
following years, similar awards were given to seven other films: one from Italy (The Bicycle Thief), two
from France (Monsieur Vincent and Forbidden Games), three from Japan (Rashomon, Gate of Hell and
Samurai, The Legend of Musashi), as well as a Franco-Italian co-production (The Walls of Malapaga).
These awards, however, were handed out on a discretionary rather than a regular basis (no award was given
at the 26th Academy Awards held in 1954), and were not competitive since there were no nominees but
simply one winning film per year.[5]

A separate category for non-English-language films was created in 1956. Known as the Best Foreign
Language Film Award, it has been awarded every year since then.[6] The first recipient was the Italian
neorealist drama La Strada, which helped establish Federico Fellini as one of the most important European
directors.[5]

During the Academy's board of governors meeting on April 23, 2019, it was decided that the category would
be renamed Best International Feature Film beginning at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020. It was argued
that use of the term "Foreign" was "outdated within the global filmmaking community", and that the new
name "better represents this category, and promotes a positive and inclusive view of filmmaking, and the art
of film as a universal experience". Animated and documentary films will also be permitted in this category.
The existing eligibility criteria remain.[7][8]

Eligibility
Unlike other Academy Awards, the International Feature Film Award does not require films to be released in
the United States in order to be eligible for competition. Films competing in the category must have been
first released in the country submitting them during the eligibility period defined by the rules of the
Academy, and must have been exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial movie
theater.[1] The eligibility period for the category differs from that required for most other categories: the
awards year defined for the International Feature Film category usually begins and ends before the ordinary
awards year, which corresponds to an exact calendar year. For the 80th Academy Awards, for instance, the
release deadline was set on September 30, 2007, whereas the qualifying run for most other categories
extended until December 31, 2007.[9]
Although the award is commonly referred to simply as the Foreign Film Oscar in newspaper articles and on
the Internet,[10] such a designation is misleading, since a film's nationality matters much less than its
language. Although a film has to be non-American in order to be nominated for the award, it also has to be
in a language other than English. Foreign films where the majority of the dialogue is in English cannot
qualify for the International Feature Film Award, and the Academy has usually applied this requirement very
seriously by disqualifying films containing too much English dialogue, the most recent case being that of the
Nigerian film Lionheart (2019), despite English being the official language of Nigeria.[11] Despite the basic
importance of the foreign language requirement, a completely dialogueless film such as the Algerian dance
film Le Bal (1983) was nominated in the Foreign Language Film category.[12][13]

Another disqualifying factor is a film's television or Internet transmission before its theatrical release, hence
the Academy's rejection of the Dutch film Bluebird (2004).[14] A film may also be refused if its submitting
country has exercised insufficient artistic control over it. Several films have been declared ineligible by the
Academy for the latter reason, the most recent of which is Lust, Caution (2007), Taiwan's entry for the 80th
Academy Awards.[15] The disqualifications, however, generally take place in the pre-nomination stage, with
the exception of A Place in the World (1992), Uruguay's entry for the 65th Academy Awards, which was
disqualified because of insufficient Uruguayan artistic control after having secured a nomination. So far, it is
the only film to have been declared ineligible and removed from the final ballot after having been nominated
for the Foreign Language Film Award.

Since the 2006 (79th) Academy Awards, submitted films no longer have to be in an official language of the
submitting country.[16] This requirement had previously prevented countries from submitting films where
the majority of the dialogue was spoken in a language that was non-native to the submitting country, and the
Academy's executive director explicitly cited as a reason for the rule change the case of the Italian film
Private (2004), which was disqualified simply because its main spoken languages were Arabic and Hebrew,
neither of which are indigenous languages of Italy.[17] This rule change enabled a country like Canada to
receive a nomination for a Hindi-language film, Water. Previously, Canada had been nominated for French-
language films only, since films shot in Canada's other official language (English) were ineligible for
consideration for the Foreign Language Film category. Before the rule change, Canada had submitted two
films in different languages—the invented-language film A Bullet in the Head in 1991 and the Inuktitut
language film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner in 2001. Inuktitut, one of the country's aboriginal languages, is
not official throughout Canada, but was (and still is) official in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
Neither film earned a nomination. The rule change, however, did not affect the eligibility of non-English
speaking American films, which are still disqualified from the category due to their nationality. Because of
this, a Japanese-language film like Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) or a Mayan-language film like Apocalypto
(2006) were unable to compete for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, even though they
were both nominated for (and, in the case of Letters from Iwo Jima, won) the Golden Globe Award for Best
Foreign Language Film, which does not have similar nationality restrictions.[18] The nationality restrictions
also differ from the practice of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for their
analogous award for Best Film Not in the English Language. While BAFTA Award eligibility requires a
commercial release in the United Kingdom, that body does not impose a nationality restriction.[19]

All films produced inside the United States have been ineligible for consideration for regardless of the
language of their dialogue track. This fact also included films produced in U.S. overseas possessions.
However, Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States and used to be eligible despite
Puerto Ricans having had American citizenship since 1917. Their best success in this award was receiving a
nomination for Santiago, the Story of his New Life (1989).[20] However, as of 2011, the Academy decided
not to allow submissions from the territory anymore.[21]

Submission and nomination process

Every country is invited to submit what it considers its best film to the Academy. Only one film is accepted
from each country. The designation of each country's official submission has to be done by an organization,
jury or committee composed of people from the film industry. For example, the British entry is submitted by
the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and the Brazilian entry is submitted by a committee under
its Ministry of Culture. Names of the members of the selecting group must be sent to the Academy.

After each country has designated its official entry, English-subtitled copies of all submitted films are
screened by the Foreign Language Film Award Committee(s), whose members select by secret ballot the
five official nominations. This procedure was slightly modified for the 2006 (79th) Academy Awards: a
nine-film shortlist was published one week before the official nominations announcement,[22] and a smaller
30-member committee, which included 10 New York City-based Academy members, spent three days
viewing the shortlisted films before choosing the five official nominees.[16] The procedure was amended
again for the 2020 (93rd) Academy Awards, allowing all Academy members to take part in this selection
procedure.[23]

Final voting for the winner is restricted to active and life Academy members who have attended exhibitions
of all five nominated films. Members who have watched the Foreign Language Film entries only on
videocassette or DVD are ineligible to vote.[1]

Recipient
Unlike the Academy Award for Best Picture, which officially goes to the winning film's producers, the
International Feature Film Award is not given to a specific individual but is considered an award for the
submitting country as a whole. For example, the Oscar statuette won by the Canadian film The Barbarian
Invasions (2003) was until recently on display at the Museum of Civilization in Quebec City.[24] It is now
on display at the TIFF Bell lightbox.

The rules currently governing the International Feature Film category state that "the Academy statuette
(Oscar) will be awarded to the picture and 'accepted by the director on behalf of the film's creative
talents".[1] Therefore, the director does not personally win the Award, but simply accepts it during the
ceremony. In fact, the award never has been associated with a specific individual, except for the 1956 (29th)
Academy Awards when the names of the producers were included in the nomination for the Foreign
Language Film category. Officially, a director like Federico Fellini is considered never to have won an
Academy Award of Merit during his lifetime, even though four of his films received the Foreign Language
Film Award (the only Academy Award that Fellini personally won was his 1992 Honorary Award).
However, producers Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti are considered to have won the 1956 Foreign
Language Film Award given to Fellini's La Strada (1954) because their names explicitly were included in
the nomination.[25]

By contrast, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is awarded to the director and
producer—that award's rules specifically state that the nomination and award is presented to the director
and/or if "a producer equally shared the creative input with the director, both names may be submitted. A
maximum of two individuals will be nominated per film".[19]

In 2014, it was announced that the name of the director will be engraved onto the Oscar statuette in addition
to the name of the country.[26]

Criticisms and controversies

Because each country chooses its official submission according to its own rules, the decisions of the
nominating bodies in each respective country are sometimes mired in controversy: for instance, the Indian
selection committee (Film Federation of India) was accused of bias by Bhavna Talwar, the director of
Dharm (2007), who claimed her film was rejected in favor of Eklavya: The Royal Guard (2007) because of
the personal connections of the latter film's director and producer.[27] Vox's Alissa Wilkinson argued in 2020
that countries such as China, Russia, and Iran frequently censor their submissions, ignoring films with
politically controversial messages.[28]

In recent years, the Academy's definition of the term "country" has caused debate. The submissions for the
75th Academy Awards, for instance, became shrouded in controversy when it was reported that Humbert
Balsan, producer of the critically acclaimed Palestinian film Divine Intervention (2002), tried to submit his
picture to the Academy but was told it could not run for the Foreign Language Film Award because the State
of Palestine is not recognized by the Academy in its rules. Because the Academy previously had accepted
films from other political entities such as Hong Kong, the rejection of Divine Intervention triggered
accusations of double standards from pro-Palestinian activists.[29] Three years later, however, another
Palestinian-Arab film, Paradise Now (2005), succeeded in getting nominated for the Foreign Language Film
Award. The nomination also caused protests, this time from pro-Israeli groups in the United States, which
objected to the Academy's use of the name Palestine on its official website to designate the film's submitting
country.[30] After intense lobbying from pro-Israeli groups, the Academy decided to designate Paradise
Now as a submission from the Palestinian Authority, a move that was decried by the film's director Hany
Abu-Assad.[31] During the awards ceremony, the film eventually was announced by presenter Will Smith as
a submission from the Palestinian Territories.[32]

Another object of controversy is the Academy's "one-country-one-film" rule, which has been criticized by
some filmmakers.[33] Guy Lodge of The Guardian wrote that the idea of a Best Foreign Language Film
category is a "fundamentally flawed premise" and this is the "most critically sneered-at of all Oscar
categories."[34] It also stated "In a perfect world—or, at least, as perfect a world as would still allow for
gaudy film-award pageantry—there'd be no need for a separate best foreign language film Oscar. The fact
that, until 2020 the Academy never honored a film not predominantly in English as the year's best says
everything about their own limitations, and nothing about those of world cinema".[34] The 2019 South
Korean film Parasite was the first to win both the newly named Best International Film and Best Picture in
the same year.[35][36]

Winners and nominees

Awards by nation

See also
Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film
List of Academy Award–winning foreign-language films (in categories other than the
International Feature Film category itself)
List of foreign-language films nominated for Academy Awards (in categories other than the
International Feature Film category itself)
References
1. 80th Academy Awards – Special Rules for the Best Foreign Language Film Award (http://www.
oscars.org/80academyawards/rules/rule14.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/200710
13004220/http://www.oscars.org/80academyawards/rules/rule14.html) October 13, 2007, at
the Wayback Machine. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 2,
2007.
2. Europe's tally includes 14 nominations and four wins for the U.S.S.R. and its successor states.
It also includes five Special/Honorary Awards: two won by Italy, two won by France and one
shared between them for The Walls of Malapaga (1949). The latter award is counted only once
in Europe's tally, whereas it is included twice in the country-based table as it figures in both
Italy's and France's tallies.
3. Number includes 3 Honorary Awards for Japan.
4. Shoard, Catherine (February 10, 2020). "Parasite makes Oscars history as first foreign
language film to win best picture" (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/10/parasite-first-f
oreign-language-film-to-win-best-picture-oscar). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 (https://www.
worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). Retrieved February 10, 2020.
5. Levy, Emanuel (2003). "Chapter 11: The Oscar and the Foreign-Language Picture". All About
Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards (https://books.google.com/books?id=d
H2Lb_YhIhAC&pg=PA207) (2nd ed.). New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
p. 207. ISBN 978-0-8264-1452-6. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
6. Pryor, Thomas M. (October 2, 1956). " 'Oscar' Created For Foreign Films" (https://www.nytime
s.com/1956/10/02/archives/oscar-created-for-foreign-films-award-henceforth-to-be-made-on.ht
ml) (fee required). The New York Times: 39. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
7. Kay, Jeremy. "Academy leaves Netflix eligibility rule intact, changes name of foreign language
category" (https://www.screendaily.com/news/academy-leaves-netflix-eligibility-rule-intact-chan
ges-name-of-foreign-language-category/5138723.article). Screen. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
8. Donnelly, Matt (April 24, 2019). "Netflix Can Chill: Academy Rules No Change in Streaming
Oscar Eligibility" (https://variety.com/2019/film/news/netflix-can-chill-academy-rules-no-change-
in-streaming-oscar-eligibility-1203196351/). Variety. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
9. 80th Academy Awards – The Awards Year and Deadlines (http://www.oscars.org/80academya
wards/rules/rule03.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20071107092135/http://www.os
cars.org/80academyawards/rules/rule03.html) November 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
10. "Countries choose Oscar contenders" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4286446.stm),
BBC News, 2005-09-27. Retrieved November 19, 2007.
11. Genevieve Nnaji Film Disqualified from Oscar Consideration - OkayAfrica (https://www.okayafri
ca.com/nigerias-lionheart-disqualified-from-oscar-consideration-genevieve-nnaji/)
12. 1984|Oscars.org (https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984)
13. "Fanny & Alexander" Wins Foreign Language Film: 1984 Oscars (https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=WBadyxkWmd0)
14. Dore, Shalini. "Academy grounds Holland's Bluebird" (https://www.variety.com/article/VR11179
34502.html?categoryid=19&cs=1), Variety, 2005-12-12. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
15. Dore, Shalini. "Academy rejects Lust Caution as Taiwan Oscar entry" (http://www.varietyasiaon
line.com/content/view/4715/53/) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20071027092511/http://
www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/4715/53/) October 27, 2007, at the Wayback
Machine, Variety, 2007-10-18. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
16. 79th Academy Awards – Rule Changes (http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2006/06.0
6.30.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20080220131218/http://www.oscars.org/pres
s/pressreleases/2006/06.06.30.html) February 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 2006-06-30. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
17. "More Academy Resistance to Films from or About Palestine" (http://www.jerusalem-times.net/
article/news/details/detail.asp?id=4143&edition=595) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20
071203044344/http://www.jerusalem-times.net/article/news/details/detail.asp?id=4143&edition
=595) December 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, The Jerusalem Times, 2005-10-26.
Retrieved November 2, 2007.
18. Kilday, Gregg. "Apocalypto on foreign Globes list" (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/searc
h/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003439152), The Hollywood Reporter, 2006-11-28.
Retrieved November 9, 2007.
19. "EE British Academy Film Awards: Rules and Guidelines 2015/16" (http://awards.bafta.org/site
s/default/files/images/film_1516_rules_and_guidelines_final_3.pdf) (PDF). British Academy of
Film and Television Arts. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
20. Cinema Paradiso" Wins Foreign Language Film: 1990 Oscars (https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=zHn9t88pJeY)
21. Puerto Rico queda excluido de la carrera por el Oscar (http://www.elnuevodia.com/puertoricoq
uedaexcluidodelacarreraporeloscar-1085149.html); El Nuevo Día (October 5, 2011)
22. Zeitchik, Steven. "Foreign Oscar list down to nine" (https://www.variety.com/awardcentral_articl
e/VR1117957521.html?nav=news&categoryid=1985&cs=1), Variety, 2007-01-16. Retrieved
November 2, 2007.
23. Buchanan, Kyle (April 28, 2020). "Oscars Rule to Allow Films to Skip a Theatrical Release This
Year" (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/movies/oscars-2021-streaming-coronavirus.html).
The New York Times.
24. Québec Cinema: The Whole Story – A major exhibition on Québec film (http://www.mcq.org/e
n/mcq/expositions.php?idEx=w289) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20071107090853/ht
tp://www.mcq.org/en/mcq/expositions.php?idEx=w289) November 7, 2007, at the Wayback
Machine. Musée de la civilisation, 2006-05-03. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
25. "La Strada" Wins Foreign Language Film: 1957 Oscars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv
Exda62GxI)
26. "Oscars to Add Winning Foreign Language Director's Name on Statuette" (https://www.thewra
p.com/oscars-to-add-winning-foreign-language-directors-name-on-statuette/). The Wrap.
Retrieved September 18, 2014.
27. "India's entry to Oscars caught in a legal tangle" (http://in.reuters.com/article/hollywood/idINDE
L9964020070929), Reuters India, 2007-09-29. Retrieved November 14, 2007.
28. Wilkinson, Alissa (February 4, 2020). "The Oscars' international film category is broken" (http
s://www.vox.com/culture/2020/2/4/21042912/international-oscars-foreign-film-rules-language).
Vox. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
29. Doherty & Abunimah. "Oscars' double standard turns Palestinian film into refugee" (http://electr
onicintifada.net/v2/article962.shtml), The Electronic Intifada, 2002-12-10. Retrieved November
20, 2007.
30. 78th Academy Awards – Nominees and Winners (http://www.oscars.org/78academyawards/no
mswins.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20080823003131/http://www.oscars.org/7
8academyawards/nomswins.html) August 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 20, 2007.
31. Agassi, Tirzah. "Middle East tensions hang over Palestinian nominee for an Oscar" (http://ww
w.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/02/26/ING5RHDJ451.DTL), The
San Francisco Chronicle, 2006-02-26. Retrieved November 20, 2007.
32. "Tsotsi" Wins Foreign Language Film: 2006 Oscars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wikqd0
aUVkM)
33. Galloway, Stephen. "Filmmakers questions Oscar's foreign movie rules" (https://www.reuters.c
om/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN0828069820071109?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertai
nmentNews&pageNumber=1), Reuters, 2007-11-09. Retrieved November 14, 2007.
34. "Oscars 2015: what will win best foreign language film?" (https://www.theguardian.com/film/20
15/feb/04/oscars-2015-predictions-best-foreign-language-film).
35. How 'Parasite' made Oscars history as the first foreign-language best picture winner - Los
Angeles Times (https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-02-09/parasite-
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36. 2020|Oscars.org (https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2020)

External links
The Official Academy Awards Database (https://web.archive.org/web/20080707023727/http://
www.oscars.org/awardsdatabase/). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved
November 14, 2007.

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