99th Academy Awards International Feature Film Submissions

Update July 30th. Finally the first country submission was announced and it was Slovakia! Not much after was Turkey and then Kosovo, definitively the category is active and will be until the end of September when AMPAS category deadline is set.

On the Festivals side there has been some news with Toronto and Sundance announcing that their Oscars qualifying award competition has been increased to 12 films which gives more opportunity to non-English to participate along with the inevitable only English-language films. Now is only Busan the one not in the clear; but, around October we will uncover what will happen from now on with the Korean festival and the Oscars.

Update July 2nd. According to Variety, Fjord by Cristian Mungiu USA distribution rights owner Neon confirmed that movie meets Academy's requirements for non-English language submissions; so, for now, until the list of approved films is released -which will confirm or not Neon's statement-, Fjord complies with Oscars International Feature Film requirements.

May 25, 2026
Cannes is over and it's time to address what's going on with this #Oscars2027 category that got huge changes in its core composition by including winners from some film festivals.

So far in 2026 there are three qualifying film festivals with a top winner, Sundance, Berlinale, and Cannes. The first two have winners NOT in the English language thus are already submitted to be considered for a spot in the short list of 15 films that will be announced on December 15, 2026 and one is now in question for the amount of English in film.

As we know according to AMPAS an international film is defined as a "feature film picture (over 40 minutes), produced outside USA and its territories with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track."  Cannes 2026 Palme d'Or winner is Fjord where English, Norwegian, Romanian, Hungarian, and Swedish are spoken; until now the percentage of each spoken language is not available but controversy has already started among some industry pundits and the omnipresent social media.

Some industry outlets have mentioned that there is very little Hungarian and Swedish spoken with Romanian spoken mainly in the household, Norwegian when speaking to local community and then English used by characters while navigating the Norwegian judicial and school systems; which suggests, as Mungiu has described, film is mainly in Norwegian and English. Still is unknown if Fjord complies with the "more than 50% non-English" and wonder when we will know it, most likely not until AMPAS list of accepted films is released.

Just a note to explain that even if Fjord does not qualify to this category, film has HIGH probabilities that will be looking for nominations in several #Oscars2027 categories as NEON (the US and other English-speaking territories rights owner since 2025) is known to do effective marketing for non-English films that end up with Oscars nominations; for example, Parasite, Sentimental Value, Anatomy of a Fall, Sirât, and more.

Nevertheless Fjord is listed below until we know from reliable sources that should not be in list.

Last, we still have the question about Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) that will run in 2026 from October 6 to 15. As can see below category deadline is September 30th, so we don't know if AMPAS will do an exception to deadline and include #BIFF2026 winner or will be #BIFF2025 the one included in final list of accepted films. All other qualifying film festivals run before category deadline and winners will be known before due date.

International Feature Film Category Key Dates
Submission deadline 5pm (PT) on Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Shortlist Tuesday, December 15, 2026
Nominations on Thursday, January 21, 2027
Awards Ceremony on Sunday, March 14, 2027

As always do not forget to consider that all dates are subject to change and if so, they will be announced via regular press release plus social media.

The 2027 List

From Film Festivals

Berlin International Film Festival: Gelbe Briefe (Yellow Leters), İlker Çatak, Germany, France and Turkey - winner of #Berlinale2026 Golden Bear and Prize of the Guild of German Arthouse cinemas

Busan International Film Festival: winner of Best Film

Cannes Film Festival: Fjord, Cristian Mungiu, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France and Romania - winner of #Cannes2026 Palme d'Or, FIPRESCI award, Ecumenical Jury Award, Prix de la Citoyenneté, and Prix François Chalais.

Sundance Film Festival: Hatixhja dhe Shabani (Shame and Money), Visar Morina, Germany, Kosovo, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia and Belgium - winner of #Sundance2025 Grand Jury Prize World Cinemas Dramatic

Toronto International Film Festival: winner of Platform Award

Venice International Film Festival: winner of Golden Lion

Country Submissions

Kosovo: Dua, Blerta Basholli #SdlC2026 Competition #Cannes2026 SACD Award winner

Lithuania: Skyrybos karo metu (How to Divorce During the War), Andrius Blaževičius #Sundance2026 World Cinema - Dramatic Best Director Award winner

Slovakia: Potopa (Flood), Martin Gonda
Switzerland: Qui vit encore (Who is Still Alive), Nicolas Wadimoff (documentary) #Giornate2025 Cinema and Arts Best Film award winner #BiennaleCinema2025

Turkey: Kesilmiş Bir Ağaç Gibi (Like A Limbless Tree), Tunç Davut

To check available info, trailers, and/or posters go to MOC here.
To check available posters on pinterest go here.
To check MovieOn facebook go here
To check MovieOn Bluesky go here

News

Argentina: submission deadline July 20. Shortlist of 4 films on September 21. Selection on September 28.
Armenia: submission deadline August 14. Selection between September 1st and 7th.

Bolivia: submission deadline August 14
Brazil: submission deadline August 10. Shortlist with 6 films on September 9. Selection on September 16.
Bulgaria: submission deadline August 10

Cambodia: submissions deadline July 31
Canada: submission deadline July 10. Selection announcement on August 25 TBC
Chile: submission deadline July 16. 11 films registered. Voting from July 28 to August 24.
Colombia: submission deadline August 7
Congo: submission deadline September 30 (??? - they have to change deadline date to an earlier date)
Costa Rica: submission deadline August 19
Croatia: submission deadline July 10
Cyprus: submission deadline July 10
Czech Republic: submission deadline was May 31. 10 films registered. Shortlist with 5 films for second round voting. 

Denmark: submission deadline June 26. Selection after August 31. 

Ecuador: submission deadline July 28
El Salvador: submissions deadline September 4. Selection on September 18.
Estonia: submission deadline June 26

France: submission deadline July 8. Shortlist week of September 8. Selection week of September 15.

Georgia: submission deadline August 21. Selection no later than September 14. 
Germany: submission deadline July 27. List of eligible films will be announced by mid-August. Selection will take place on August 24 and 25 in Munich. 
Guatemala: submission deadline July 27

Hungary: submission deadline August 25. Selection beginning of September. 

Iceland: submission deadline August 5. Deadline extended to August 9. 2 films shortlist with selection announced in late August/early September.
India: submission deadline September 7
Indonesia: submission deadline August 30. Selection process from September 2 to 14, selection on September 15.
Ireland: submission deadline June 30
Italy: submission deadline September 16

Japan: submission deadline July 23. Selection after August 24.
Jordan: submission deadline August 22.

Kazakhstan: submission deadline September 5
Kyrgyzstan: submission deadline August 17

Latvia: submission deadline July 24
Lebanon: submission deadline September 14

Malaysia: submission deadline July 30
Malta: submission deadline September 1
Mexico: submission deadline July 6. 17 film registered. 
Montenegro: submission deadline September 4
Morocco: submission deadline July 31

Nepal: submission deadline September 7
Netherlands: submission deadline July 20. Six films were submitted. 
Nigeria: submissions deadline August 31
North Macedonia: submission deadline August 17
Norway: submission deadline June 14

Pakistan: submission deadline August 10
Palestine: submission deadline July 31
Panama: submission deadline September 1st
Papua New Guinea: submission deadline August 15
Peru: submission deadline July 31
Philippines: submission deadline July 31. Shortlist in August. Selection in September 2. 
Poland: submission deadline August 23

Romania: submission deadline August 25. Selection on September 13

Serbia: submission deadline August 31
Slovenia: submission deadline August 17
South Africa: submission deadline July 16
South Korea: submissions deadline was June 19. 6 films were submitted.
Spain: first round voting from August 28, shortlist with 3 films on September 3. Selection on September 16.
Sweden: submission deadline was June 15. Shortlist with 3 films soon.

Taiwan: submissions deadline June 29
Thailand: shortlisted 8 films, selection soon
Tunisia: submissions deadline August 14

UK: submission deadline July 31
Ukraine: submission deadline August 19
Uruguay: submission deadline August 7

Venezuela: submission deadline August 9, screening films from August 9 to September 10. Selection between September 12 to 15.
Vietnam: submission deadline September 15

Zambia: submission deadline September 4. Selection on September 26.

AMPAS released an International Feature Film FAQ's and to read it go here.