View source for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

{{Short description|American film award}}
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{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}}
{{Infobox award
| name        = Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
| awarded_for = Excellence in International Film with a predominantly non-English dialogue track
| presenter   = [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] (AMPAS)
| country     = [[United States]]
| former name      = Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (until 2020)
| year        = ''[[Shoeshine (film)|Shoeshine]]'' ([[20th Academy Awards|1947]])
| holder_label  = Most recent winner
| holder      = ''[[The Zone of Interest (film)|The Zone of Interest]]'' ([[96th Academy Awards|2023]])
| website     = {{url|oscars.org}}
}}
The '''Academy Award for Best International Feature Film''' (known as '''Best Foreign Language Film''' prior to 2020) is one of the [[Academy Awards]] handed out annually by the U.S.-based [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] (AMPAS). It is given to a [[feature-length]] motion picture produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.<ref name="Rules">[http://www.oscars.org/80academyawards/rules/rule14.html 80th Academy Awards – Special Rules for the Best Foreign Language Film Award] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013004220/http://www.oscars.org/80academyawards/rules/rule14.html |date=October 13, 2007 }}. [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]. Retrieved November 2, 2007.</ref>
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 [[20th Academy Awards|1947]] and [[28th Academy Awards|1955]], the academy presented [[Academy Honorary Award|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 [[26th Academy Awards|1953]]), and were not competitive since there were no nominees but simply one winning film per year. For the [[29th Academy Awards|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-seven awards handed out by the academy since [[20th Academy Awards|1947]] to foreign language films, sixty have gone to [[European cinema|European films]],<ref>[[European cinema|Europe]]'s tally includes 14 nominations and four wins for the [[Cinema of the Soviet Union|U.S.S.R.]] and its [[Post-Soviet states|successor states]]. It also includes five [[Academy Honorary Award|Special/Honorary Awards]]: two won by [[Cinema of Italy|Italy]], two won by [[Cinema of France|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 [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film#Awards tally by country|country-based table]] as it figures in both [[Cinema of Italy|Italy]]'s and [[Cinema of France|France]]'s tallies.</ref> nine to [[Asian cinema|Asian films]],<ref>Number includes 3 [[Academy Honorary Award|Honorary Awards]] for [[Cinema of Japan|Japan]].</ref> five to [[Cinema of the Americas|films from the Americas]] and three to [[African cinema|African films]]. [[Italians|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|2024|lc=y}} (if [[Academy Honorary Award|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 [[Academy Honorary Award|Special Awards]]) and 33 nominations, while France is the foreign country with the most nominations (41 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 (40) without a nomination. In [[92nd Academy Awards|2020 (92nd)]], South Korea's entrant [[Parasite (2019 film)|''Parasite'']] became the first International Feature Film winner, as well as the first non-English language film overall, to win [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shoard|first=Catherine|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/10/parasite-first-foreign-language-film-to-win-best-picture-oscar|title=Parasite makes Oscars history as first foreign language film to win best picture|date=2020-02-10|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-02-10|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==History==
When the [[1st Academy Awards|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 [[Academy Honorary Award|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 neorealism|Italian neorealist]] drama ''[[Shoeshine (film)|Shoeshine]]'', whose citation read: "the high quality of this motion picture, brought to eloquent life in a [[Military history of Italy during World War II|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 (''[[Bicycle Thieves|The Bicycle Thief]]''{{--)}}, two from France (''[[Monsieur Vincent]]'' and ''[[Forbidden Games]]''), three from Japan (''[[Rashomon]]'', ''[[Gate of Hell (film)|Gate of Hell]]'' and ''[[Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto|Samurai, The Legend of Musashi]]''{{--)}}, as well as a Franco-Italian [[International co-production|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.<ref name="Levy">{{cite book |last=Levy |first=Emanuel |author-link=Emanuel Levy |title=All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dH2Lb_YhIhAC&pg=PA207 |access-date=2010-07-16 |edition=2nd |year=2003 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8264-1452-6 |page=207 |chapter=Chapter 11: The Oscar and the Foreign-Language Picture}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pryor |first=Thomas M. |date=October 2, 1956 |title='Oscar' Created For Foreign Films |journal=[[The New York Times]] |page=39 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/10/02/archives/oscar-created-for-foreign-films-award-henceforth-to-be-made-on.html |format=fee required |access-date=2010-07-16}}</ref> The first recipient was the Italian neorealist drama ''[[La Strada]]'', which helped establish [[Federico Fellini]] as one of the most important European directors.<ref name="Levy"/>
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 the 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 would also be permitted in this category. The existing eligibility criteria remained.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/academy-leaves-netflix-eligibility-rule-intact-changes-name-of-foreign-language-category/5138723.article|title=Academy leaves Netflix eligibility rule intact, changes name of foreign language category|last=Kay|first=Jeremy|website=Screen|language=en|access-date=2019-04-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/netflix-can-chill-academy-rules-no-change-in-streaming-oscar-eligibility-1203196351/|title=Netflix Can Chill: Academy Rules No Change in Streaming Oscar Eligibility|last=Donnelly|first=Matt|date=2019-04-24|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=2019-04-24}}</ref>
==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.<ref name="Rules"/> 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 was extended until December 31, 2007.<ref>[http://www.oscars.org/80academyawards/rules/rule03.html 80th Academy Awards – The Awards Year and Deadlines] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107092135/http://www.oscars.org/80academyawards/rules/rule03.html |date=November 7, 2007 }}. [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]. Retrieved November 2, 2007.</ref>
Although the award is commonly referred to simply as the Foreign Film Oscar in newspaper articles and on the Internet,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4286446.stm "Countries choose Oscar contenders"], [[BBC News]], 2005-09-27. Retrieved November 19, 2007.</ref> 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 [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbed]] American actors can be nominated, for example, ''[[Battle of Neretva (film)|Battle of Neretva]]'' (1969) starring [[Orson Welles]] and [[Yul Brynner]]. 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 [[Cinema of Nigeria|Nigerian]] film ''[[Lionheart (2018 film)|Lionheart]]'' (2019), despite English being the official language of Nigeria.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.okayafrica.com/nigerias-lionheart-disqualified-from-oscar-consideration-genevieve-nnaji/|title=Nigeria's Oscar Hopeful, 'Lionheart,' Has Been Disqualified Because It's in English|date=November 4, 2019|website=OkayAfrica}}</ref> Despite the basic importance of the foreign language requirement, the 1983 Algerian dance film ''[[Le Bal (1983 film)|Le Bal]]'' was nominated despite completely lacking dialogue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984|title=The 56th Academy Awards &#124; 1984|website=Oscars.org &#124; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|date=October 4, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBadyxkWmd0|title="Fanny & Alexander" Wins Foreign Language Film: 1984 Oscars|date=July 17, 2013 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref>
Another disqualifying factor is a film's television or Internet transmission before its theatrical release, hence the academy's rejection of the [[Cinema of the Netherlands|Dutch]] film ''[[Bluebird (2004 film)|Bluebird]]'' (2004).<ref>Dore, Shalini. [https://variety.com/2005/film/awards/academy-grounds-holland-s-bluebird-1117934502/ "Academy grounds Holland's ''Bluebird''"], ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', 2005-12-12. Retrieved November 2, 2007.</ref> 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]]'' (2020), Belarus's entry for the [[93rd Academy Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/global/persian-lessons-oscars-disqualified-belarus-1234881510/ |title=Belarus Oscar Entry 'Persian Lessons' Pulled From International Feature Film Race |last=Ravindran |first=Manori |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |publisher=Variety Media, LLC. |date=8 January 2021 |access-date=9 January 2021}}</ref> The disqualifications, however, generally take place in the pre-nomination stage, with the exception of ''[[A Place in the World (film)|A Place in the World]]'' (1992), [[List of Uruguayan films|Uruguay]]'s entry for the [[65th Academy Awards]], 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 [[79th Academy Awards|2006 (79th) Academy Awards]], submitted films no longer have to be in the official language of the submitting country.<ref name="Rule Changes"/> 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 [[Cinema of Italy|Italian]] film ''[[Private (film)|Private]]'' (2004), which was disqualified simply because its main spoken languages were [[Arabic]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], neither of which are [[List of languages of Italy|indigenous languages of Italy]].<ref>[http://www.jerusalem-times.net/article/news/details/detail.asp?id=4143&edition=595 "More Academy Resistance to Films from or About Palestine"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203044344/http://www.jerusalem-times.net/article/news/details/detail.asp?id=4143&edition=595 |date=December 3, 2007 }}, ''[[The Jerusalem Times]]'', 2005-10-26. Retrieved November 2, 2007.</ref> This rule change enabled a country like [[Cinema of Canada|Canada]] to receive a nomination for a Hindi-language film, ''[[Water (2005 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 (1990 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 [[Languages of Canada#Indigenous languages|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 [[Cinema of the United States|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 [[Yucatec Maya language|Mayan-language]] film like ''[[Apocalypto]]'' (2006) was 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.<ref>Kilday, Gregg. [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003439152 "''Apocalypto'' on foreign Globes list"], ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'', 2006-11-28. Retrieved November 9, 2007.</ref> The nationality restrictions also differ from the practice of the [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] (BAFTA) for their analogous award for [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language|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.<ref name=BAFTA>{{cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/sites/default/files/images/film_1516_rules_and_guidelines_final_3.pdf |title=EE British Academy Film Awards: Rules and Guidelines 2015/16 |publisher=British Academy of Film and Television Arts|access-date=8 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309025820/http://awards.bafta.org/sites/default/files/images/film_1516_rules_and_guidelines_final_3.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
All films produced inside the United States have been ineligible for consideration 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 [[Jones-Shafroth Act|American citizenship since 1917]]. Their best success in this award was receiving a nomination for ''[[Lo que le Pasó a Santiago|Santiago, the Story of his New Life]]'' (1989).<ref>{{YouTube|id=zHn9t88pJeY|title=Cinema Paradiso" Wins Foreign Language Film: 1990 Oscars}}</ref> However, in 2011 the academy decided not to allow submissions from the territory anymore.<ref>[http://www.elnuevodia.com/puertoricoquedaexcluidodelacarreraporeloscar-1085149.html Puerto Rico queda excluido de la carrera por el Oscar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502191241/http://www.elnuevodia.com/puertoricoquedaexcluidodelacarreraporeloscar-1085149.html |date=May 2, 2013 }}; ''[[El Nuevo Día]]'' (October 5, 2011)</ref>
==Submission and nomination process==
Every country (excluding the United States) 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 [[List of British submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|British entry]] is submitted by the [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]], and the [[List of Brazilian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Brazilian entry]] is submitted by a committee under its [[Ministry of Culture (Brazil)|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 [[79th Academy Awards|2006 (79th) Academy Awards]]: a nine-film shortlist was published one week before the official nominations announcement,<ref>Zeitchik, Steven. [https://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117957521.html?nav=news&categoryid=1985&cs=1 "Foreign Oscar list down to nine"], ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', 2007-01-16. Retrieved November 2, 2007.</ref> 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.<ref name="Rule Changes">[http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2006/06.06.30.html 79th Academy Awards – Rule Changes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220131218/http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2006/06.06.30.html |date=February 20, 2008 }}. [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]], 2006-06-30. Retrieved November 2, 2007.</ref> The procedure was amended again for the [[93rd Academy Awards|2020 (93rd) Academy Awards]], allowing all Academy members to take part in this selection procedure.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Buchanan |first1=Kyle |title=Oscars Rule to Allow Films to Skip a Theatrical Release This Year |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/movies/oscars-2021-streaming-coronavirus.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=28 April 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=95th Oscars Complete Rules |url=https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/95th_oscars_complete_rules.pdf |access-date=December 3, 2022 |website=Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}}</ref>
==Recipient==
{{Main|List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film}}
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 [[Cinema of Canada|Canadian]] film ''[[The Barbarian Invasions]]'' (2003) was until recently on display at the [[Musée de la civilisation|Museum of Civilization]] in [[Quebec City]].<ref>[http://www.mcq.org/en/mcq/expositions.php?idEx=w289 ''Québec Cinema: The Whole Story'' – A major exhibition on Québec film] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107090853/http://www.mcq.org/en/mcq/expositions.php?idEx=w289 |date=November 7, 2007 }}. [[Musée de la civilisation]], 2006-05-03. Retrieved November 2, 2007.</ref> 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".<ref name="Rules"/> Therefore, the director does not personally win the Award, but simply accepts it during the [[List of Academy Awards ceremonies|ceremony]]. In fact, the award never has been associated with a specific individual, except for the [[29th Academy Awards|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 [[Academy Honorary Award|Honorary Award]]). However, producers [[Dino De Laurentiis]] and [[Carlo Ponti]] were considered to have won the 1956 Foreign Language Film Award given to Fellini's ''[[La strada (film)|La Strada]]'' (1954) because their names explicitly were included in the nomination.<ref>{{YouTube|id=nvExda62GxI|title=La Strada" Wins Foreign Language Film: 1957 Oscars}}</ref>
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".<ref name=BAFTA/>
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.<ref name="Director">{{cite web |url=https://www.thewrap.com/oscars-to-add-winning-foreign-language-directors-name-on-statuette/ |title=Oscars to Add Winning Foreign Language Director's Name on Statuette |access-date=18 September 2014 |work=The Wrap|date=September 18, 2014 }}</ref>
==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 (film)|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.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071221064859/http://in.reuters.com/article/hollywood/idINDEL9964020070929 "India's entry to Oscars caught in a legal tangle"], [[Reuters|Reuters India]], 2007-09-29. Retrieved November 14, 2007.</ref> ''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.<ref name="Vox_Broken">{{cite news |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Alissa |title=The Oscars' international film category is broken |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/2/4/21042912/international-oscars-foreign-film-rules-language |access-date=24 February 2020 |work=Vox |date=4 February 2020 |language=en}}</ref>  Another major controversy came in 1985 when [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s highly acclaimed ''[[Ran (film)|Ran]]'' was not submitted for nomination by Japan, reportedly because Kurosawa was personally unpopular in the Japanese film industry.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mathews |first1=Jack |title=Snub and Be Snubbed As "Ran" Misses Oscar Bid |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-12-11-ca-1016-story.html |access-date=May 12, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=December 11, 1985 |language=en}}</ref>
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 cinema|Palestinian]] film ''[[Divine Intervention (2002 film)|Divine Intervention]]'' (2002), tried to submit his picture to the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|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 [[Cinema of Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], the rejection of ''Divine Intervention'' triggered accusations of double standards from pro-Palestinian activists, according to [[Electronic Intifada]].<ref>Doherty & Abunimah. [http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article962.shtml "Oscars' double standard turns Palestinian film into refugee"], ''[[Electronic Intifada|The Electronic Intifada]]'', 2002-12-10. Retrieved November 20, 2007.</ref> 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 [[Israel lobby in the United States|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.<ref>[http://www.oscars.org/78academyawards/nomswins.html 78th Academy Awards – Nominees and Winners] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080823003131/http://www.oscars.org/78academyawards/nomswins.html |date=August 23, 2008 }}. [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]. Retrieved November 20, 2007.</ref> 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]].<ref>Agassi, Tirzah. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/02/26/ING5RHDJ451.DTL "Middle East tensions hang over Palestinian nominee for an Oscar"], ''[[The San Francisco Chronicle]]'', 2006-02-26. Retrieved November 20, 2007.</ref> During the [[78th Academy Awards|awards ceremony]], the film eventually was announced by presenter [[Will Smith]] as a submission from "the [[Palestinian territories]]."<ref>{{YouTube|id=wikqd0aUVkM|title="Tsotsi" Wins Foreign Language Film: 2006 Oscars}}</ref>
Another object of controversy is the academy's "one-country-one-film" rule, which has been criticized by some filmmakers.<ref>Galloway, Stephen. [https://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN0828069820071109?&pageNumber=1 "Filmmakers questions Oscar's foreign movie rules"], [[Reuters]], 2007-11-09. Retrieved November 14, 2007.</ref> 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".<ref name=guardian>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/04/oscars-2015-predictions-best-foreign-language-film|title=Oscars 2015: what will win best foreign language film?| website=[[TheGuardian.com]] | date=February 4, 2015 }}</ref> 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 [[Academy Award for Best Picture|the year's best]] says everything about their own limitations, and nothing about those of world cinema".<ref name=guardian/> The 2019 South Korean film ''[[Parasite (2019 film)|Parasite]]'' was the first to win both the newly named Best International Feature Film and Best Picture in the same year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-02-09/parasite-oscars-2020-best-picture-history-korea|title=How 'Parasite' made Oscars history as the first foreign-language best picture winner|date=February 10, 2020|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2020|title=The 92nd Academy Awards &#124; 2020|website=Oscars.org &#124; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|date=March 19, 2024 }}</ref>
== Winners and nominees ==
{{Main|List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film}}
==Awards by nation==
{{Main|List of countries by number of Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film}}
==See also==
* [[Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film]]
* [[Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film]]
* [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language]]
* [[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)
* [[List of Academy Award–nominated films]]
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080707023727/http://www.oscars.org/awardsdatabase/ The Official Academy Awards Database]. [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]. Retrieved November 14, 2007.
{{Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Academy Awards}}
{{Academy Awards lists}}
{{Academy Award for Best Foreign Film submissions}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Award For Best Foreign Language Film}}
[[Category:Academy Award for Best International Feature Film| ]]
[[Category:Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners| ]]
[[Category:Academy Awards|Foreign Language]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1956]]