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The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
handed out annually by the U.S.-based
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
(AMPAS). It is given to a
feature-length A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
motion picture produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.80th Academy Awards – Special Rules for the Best Foreign Language Film Award
.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
When the first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 1929, to honor films released in 1927/28, there was no separate category for foreign language films because most of the films released in 1927 and in 1928 were silent films. Between 1947 and
1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
, the academy presented Special/Honorary Awards to the best foreign language films released in the United States. These awards, however, were not handed out on a regular basis (no award was given in 1953), and were not competitive since there were no nominees but simply one winning film per year. For the 1956 (29th) Academy Awards, a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since then. Unlike other Academy Awards, the International Feature Film award is not presented to a specific individual (although it is accepted on-stage by its director), but is considered an award for the submitting country as a whole. Over the years, the Best International Feature Film Award and its predecessors have been given predominantly to European films: out of the seventy-two awards handed out by the academy since 1947 to foreign language films, fifty-seven have gone to European films, seven to Asian films, five to films from the Americas and three to African films.
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
filmmaker
Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...
directed four Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award–winning motion pictures during his lifetime, a record that remains unmatched (if Special Awards are taken into account, then Fellini's record is tied by his countryman
Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...
). The most awarded foreign country is
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, with 14 awards won (including three Special Awards) and 29 nominations, while France is the foreign country with the most nominations (37 for 12 wins, including three Special Awards). Israel is the foreign country with the most nominations (10) without winning an award, while Portugal has the most 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 This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
.


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 Jean Pierre Carl Buron (12 July 1886 – 2 June 1956), known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is best known for starring on the radio series '' Dr. Christian'' (1937–1954) and in the film '' Heidi'' (1937).Obitu ...
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 Italian neorealism ( it, Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They pri ...
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 ''Bicycle Thieves'' ( it, Ladri di biciclette; sometimes known in the United States as ''The Bicycle Thief'') is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post-World War ...
''), two from France (''
Monsieur Vincent ''Monsieur Vincent'' is a 1947 French film about Vincent de Paul, the 17th-century priest and charity worker. It depicts his struggle to help the poor in the face of obstacles such as the Black Death. In 1949, it won an honorary Academy Award as ...
'' and ''
Forbidden Games ''Forbidden Games'' (french: Jeux interdits) is a 1952 French war drama film directed by René Clément and based on François Boyer's novel ''Jeux Interdits''. While not initially successful in France, the film was a hit elsewhere. It won the G ...
''), three from Japan (''
Rashomon is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura ...
'', '' Gate of Hell'' and '' Samurai, The Legend of Musashi''), as well as a Franco-Italian co-production (''
The Walls of Malapaga ''The Walls of Malapaga'' ( it, Le mura di Malapaga, french: Au-delà des grilles (''Beyond the Gates'')), is a 1949 French-Italian drama film directed by René Clément and starring Jean Gabin, Isa Miranda and Andrea Checchi. It was a co-prod ...
''). 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. 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. The first recipient was the Italian neorealist drama ''
La Strada ''La strada'' () is a 1954 Italian drama film directed by Federico Fellini and co-written by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. The film tells the story of Gelsomina, a simple-minded young woman ( Giulietta Masina) bought from her mothe ...
'', which helped establish
Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...
as one of the most important European directors. 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 The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 p ...
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.


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. 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 The 80th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2007. The award ceremony took place on February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During t ...
, for instance, the release deadline was set on September 30, 2007, whereas the qualifying run for most other categories extended until December 31, 2007. Although the award is commonly referred to simply as the Foreign Film Oscar in newspaper articles and on the Internet, such a designation is misleading, since a film's nationality matters much less than its language. Although a film has to be produced outside the United States in order to be nominated for the award, it also has to be in a language other than English. Foreign films with dubbed American actors can be nominated, for example ''
Battle of Neretva Case White (german: Fall Weiss), also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive ( sh, Četvrta neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva), was a combined Axis strategic offensive launched against the Yugoslav Partisans throughout occupied Yugoslavia during W ...
'' (1969) starring
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
and
Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in th ...
. Foreign films where most 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 Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
film '' Lionheart'' (2019), despite English being the official language of Nigeria. Despite the basic importance of the foreign language requirement, the 1983 Algerian dance film '' Le Bal'' was nominated despite completely lacking dialogue. Another disqualifying factor is a film's television or Internet transmission before its theatrical release, hence the academy's rejection of the
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
film ''
Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...
'' (2004). 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 ''
Persian Lessons ''Persian Lessons'' (german: Persischstunden) is a 2020 Russian-Belarusian war drama film directed by Vadim Perelman. The film was partially inspired by the short story ''Erfindung einer Sprache'' by German writer Wolfgang Kohlhaase. It was sel ...
'' (2020), Belarus's entry for the
93rd Academy Awards The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 202 ...
. The disqualifications, however, generally take place in the pre-nomination stage, with the exception of '' A Place in the World'' (1992),
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
's entry for the
65th Academy Awards The 65th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1992 in the United States and took place on March 29, 1993, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beg ...
, which was disqualified because of insufficient Uruguayan artistic control after having secured a nomination. As of the 2021 ceremony, it is the only film to have been declared ineligible and removed from the final ballot after having been nominated in this category. Since the 2006 (79th) Academy Awards, submitted films no longer have to be in an official language of the submitting country. This requirement had previously prevented countries from submitting films where most 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 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
film ''
Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
'' (2004), which was disqualified simply because its main spoken languages were
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, neither of which are indigenous languages of Italy. This rule change enabled a country like
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
to receive a nomination for a Hindi-language film, ''
Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
''. 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 Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...
film '' Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner'' in 2001. Inuktitut, one of the country's
aboriginal languages Aboriginal language may refer to: * Indigenous language * Australian Aboriginal languages * Taiwanese aboriginal languages * Indigenous languages of the Americas * Aboriginal Malay languages The Malayic languages are a branch of the Malayo-P ...
, is not official throughout Canada, but was (and still is) official in
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and the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
. 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 ''Apocalypto'' () is a 2006 action adventure film produced, co-written, and directed by Mel Gibson. The film features a cast of Native American and Indigenous Mexican actors consisting of Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo, Dalia H ...
'' (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 The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film coul ...
, which does not have similar nationality restrictions. The nationality restrictions also differ from the practice of the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
(BAFTA) for their analogous award for
Best Film Not in the English Language The BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 36th British Academy Film Awards, r ...
. While BAFTA Award eligibility requires a commercial release in the United Kingdom, that body does not impose a nationality restriction. 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). However, in 2011 the academy decided not to allow submissions from the territory anymore.


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 British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
, and the Brazilian entry is submitted by a committee under its
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...
. 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, 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.79th Academy Awards – Rule Changes
.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
, 2006-06-30. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
The procedure was amended again for the 2020 (93rd) Academy Awards, allowing all Academy members to take part in this selection procedure. As of 2022, the two-committee system has been reinstated with an "International Feature Film Preliminary Committee" that shortlists fifteen films and an "International Feature Film Nominating Committee" that narrows down the final five nominees. 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.


Recipient

Unlike the
Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...
, 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 Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
film ''
The Barbarian Invasions ''The Barbarian Invasions'' (french: Les Invasions barbares) is a 2003 Canadian-French sex comedy-drama film written and directed by Denys Arcand and starring Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau and Marie-Josée Croze. The film is a sequel to Arca ...
'' (2003) was until recently on display at the Museum of Civilization in
Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
. 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". Therefore, the director does not personally win the Award, but simply accepts it during the
ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...
. 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 Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...
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 Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian-American film producer. Along with Carlo Ponti, he was one of the producers who brought Italian cinema to the international scene at the end of World War II. He ...
and
Carlo Ponti Carlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti Sr. (11 December 1912 – 9 January 2007) was an Italian film producer with more than 140 productions to his credit. Along with Dino De Laurentiis, he is credited with reinvigorating and popularizing Italian cinema ...
are considered to have won the 1956 Foreign Language Film Award given to Fellini's ''
La Strada ''La strada'' () is a 1954 Italian drama film directed by Federico Fellini and co-written by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. The film tells the story of Gelsomina, a simple-minded young woman ( Giulietta Masina) bought from her mothe ...
'' (1954) because their names explicitly were included in the nomination. 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 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". 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.


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 The Film Federation of India (FFI) is an apex body of the Indian film producers (around 18,000), distributors (around 20,000), exhibitors (around 12,000) and studio owners, headquartered in Mumbai.Shahid Alikhan, R. A. Mashelkar, "Intellectual pro ...
) 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. ''Vox'' Alissa Wilkinson argued in 2020 that countries such as China, Russia, and Iran frequently censor their submissions, ignoring films with politically controversial messages. Another major controversy came in 1985 when
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's highly acclaimed ''Ran'' was not submitted for nomination by Japan, reportedly because Kurosawa was personally unpopular in the Japanese film industry. 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 Humbert Jean René Balsan (21 August 1954 – 10 February 2005) was a French film producer and chairman of the European Film Academy. He was known for securing financing and distribution for diverse and often challenging films. In February 2005 ...
, producer of the critically acclaimed
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
film ''
Divine Intervention Divine intervention is an event that occurs when a deity (i.e. God or a god) becomes actively involved in changing some situation in human affairs. In contrast to other kinds of divine action, the expression "divine ''intervention''" implies that ...
'' (2002), tried to submit his picture to the
Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
but was told it could not run for the Foreign Language Film Award because the
State of Palestine Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), Legal status of the State of Palestine, officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state (polity), state located in Western Asia. Officiall ...
is not recognized by the academy in its rules. Because the academy previously had accepted films from other political entities such as
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, the rejection of ''Divine Intervention'' triggered accusations of double standards from pro-Palestinian activists. Three years later, however, another Palestinian-Arab film, ''
Paradise Now ''Paradise Now'' ( ar, الجنّة الآن, al-Janna al-ʾāna) is a political and psychological drama film directed by Hany Abu-Assad about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Israel. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best ...
'' (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. 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 Hany Abu-Assad ( ar, هاني أبو أسعد; born 11 October 1961) is a Palestinian-Dutch film director. He has received two Academy Award nominations: in 2006 for his film ''Paradise Now'', and again in 2013 for his film ''Omar''. Early life ...
. During the
awards ceremony An awards ceremony is a type of ceremony where awards are given out. The ceremony may be arranged by a government organization, a society, a school, a trade association or even a company that specializes in running awards ceremonies. Typically a ma ...
, the film eventually was announced by presenter
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...
as a submission from the
Palestinian Territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
. Another object of controversy is the academy's "one-country-one-film" rule, which has been criticized by some filmmakers. Guy Lodge of ''The Guardian'' wrote in 2015 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." 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, after 87 years, 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". The 2019 South Korean film ''
Parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
'' was the first to win both the newly named Best International Film and Best Picture in the same year.


Winners and nominees


Awards by nation


See also

*
Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film The Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film is an award presented annually at the Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Aw ...
*
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film coul ...
*
BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language The BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 36th British Academy Film Awards, rec ...
*
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Broadcast Film Critics Association The Critics Choice Association (CCA), formerly the Broadcast Fil ...
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List of Academy Award–winning foreign-language films The following is a list of foreign-language films that have won an Academy Award. Criteria The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has given Academy Awards to foreign language films since 1945. The Academy defines a foreign language film a ...
(in categories other than the International Feature Film category itself) *
List of foreign-language films nominated for Academy Awards This article lists all the foreign language films which have been nominated for or won Academy Awards in categories other than the International Feature Film category (known before the 2019 awards as Best Foreign Language Film) itself. The Academy ...
(in categories other than the International Feature Film category itself)


References


External links


The Official Academy Awards Database
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
. Retrieved November 14, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Award For Best Foreign Language Film
Foreign Language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a given country, and that native speakers from that country must usually acquire through conscious learning - be this through language lessons at school ...
Awards established in 1956