99th Academy Awards International Feature Film Submissions

Update September 2nd. I have been carefully reading AMPAS rules for this category and there are some issues that still confuse me as, for example, in the submissions requirements checklist it is clearly stated "The eligibility period for winning a qualifying festival award begins on October 1, 2025, and ends on September 30, 2026."; so, that means that Busan fest winner should be the one from last year and not this year winner. Still, will wait to see how AMPAS resolves this issue.

But what really concerns this update is the fact that Romania is submitting Fjord as the country's entry and according to AMPAS International Feature Film FAQ's "If a film wins a qualifying festival award and is later selected as the official submission of a country or region, it will be considered an official country/region submission and listed as such. A qualifying festival does not receive an alternate qualifying slot if its award-winning film is submitted by a country or region. No runner-up or additional festival award winner becomes eligible in its place." Which means that Fjord by Christian Mungiu now is ONLY the submission of Romania and forfeit the need to be submitted as Palme d'Or winner. Also, unfortunatelly, means that Minotaur cannot be sent in its place, which is a true shame. Sigh.

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.  Will be submitted by Romania.

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

Austria: Rose, Markus Schleinzer #Berlinale2026 Competition Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance award winner

Belgium: Coward, Lukas Dhont #Cannes2026 Competition Best Actor and Prix Cinéma Positif winner

Canada: Nina Rosa, Geneviève Dulude-De Celles #Berlinale2026 Competition Silver Bear for Screenplay award winner
Cambodia: ជាតិជាមនុស្សា Chiet Chea Manusa (Becoming Human), Polen Ly Biennale College Cinema #BiennaleCinema2025
Chile: El Deshielo (The Meltdown), Manuela Martelli Un Certain Regard Competition #UCR2026 #Cannes2026
Colombia: Llueve Sobre Babel (Rains Over Babel), Gala del Sol #Sundance2025 NEXT
Croatia: Bog neće pomoći (God Will Not Help), Hane Jušić #Locarno2025 Competition winner of Pardo for Best Performance #Sarajevo2025 Special Award for Promoting Gender Equality
Czech Republic: Kdyby se holubi proměnili ve zlato (If Pigeons Turned to Gold), Pepa Lubojacki (documentary) Forum #Berlinale2026 Documentary Award winner and Caligari Film Prize winner

Dominican Republic: Melodrama, Andrés Farías

Estonia: Meie Erika (Our Erika), German Golub

Georgia: გურია Guria, Levan Koguashvili #VeneziaSpotlight2026 Competition #BiennaleCinema2026
Germany: Everytime, Sandra Wollner Un Certain Regard Competition #UCR2026 #Cannes2026

Japan: 急に具合が悪くなる Kyū ni guai ga waruku naru (All of a Sudden), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi #Cannes2026 Competition Best Actress award and Prix Eco Prod award winner

Iceland: Jörðin undir fótum okkar (The Ground Beneath Our Feet), Yrsa Roca Fannberg (documentary)
Ireland: Aontas, Damian McCann

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

Latvia: Uļa (Ulya), Viesturs Kairišs #UCR2026 Competition #Cannes2026
Lithuania: Skyrybos karo metu (How to Divorce During the War), Andrius Blaževičius #Sundance2026 World Cinema - Dramatic Best Director Award winner

Mexico: En El Camino (On The Road), David Pablos #Orizzonti2025 Competition Orizzonti Best Film award and Queer Lion award winner
Morocco: La Más Dulce (Strawberries), Laïla Marrakchi #UCR2026 Competition #Cannes2026

North Macedonia: 17, Kosara Mitić #Berlinale2026 Perspectives Competition #Sarajevo2026 Competition Heart of Sarajevo Best Actress award winner
Norway: Markens Grøde (Growth of the Soil), Hans Petter Moland #74SSIFF2026 Competition

Palestine: لمواطن أسامة Al Mowaten Osama (Citizen Osama), Ahmed Hassouna (documentary) #VeniceOpen2026 Out of Competition #BiennaleCinema2026
Peru: Vino La Noche (Night Has Come), Paolo Tizón (documentary) Karlovy Vary Proxima Competition Special Prize of the Jury winner #KVIFF2024

Romania: 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

Slovakia: Potopa (Flood), Martin Gonda
South Korea: 가능한 사랑 Ganeunghan Sarang (Possible Love), Lee Chang-dong #Venice83 Competition #BiennaleCinema2026
Sweden: Arkipelag (Adult Supervision), Alex Schulman
Switzerland: Qui vit encore (Who is Still Alive), Nicolas Wadimoff (documentary) #Giornate2025 Cinema and Arts Best Film award winner #BiennaleCinema2025

Taiwan: 大濛 Dà Méng (A Foggy Tale), Chen Yu-hsun
Thailand: 9 วัดสู่สวรรค์ 9 Wat Su Sawana (9 Temples To Heaven), Sompot Chidgasornpongse #Quizaine2026 #Cannes2026
Turkey: Kesilmiş Bir Ağaç Gibi (Like A Limbless Tree), Tunç Davut

Uruguay: Un Cabo Suelto (A Loose End), Daniel Hendler #VeneziaSpotlight2025 #BiennaleCinema2025 #73SSIFF 2025 Horizons Special Mention

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News

Albania: submissions deadline August 31
Algeria: submissions deadline September 8
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.

Bangladesh: submission deadline September 16. Selection on September 27.
Bhutan: submission deadline September 20
Bolivia: submission deadline August 14
Bosnia Herzegovina: submission deadline September 3
Brazil: submission deadline August 10, extended to August 19. 15 films registered to be considered. Shortlist with 6 films on September 9. Selection on September 16.
Bulgaria: submission deadline August 10

Congo: submission deadline September 30 (??? - they have to change deadline date to an earlier date)
Costa Rica: submission deadline August 19
Cyprus: submission deadline July 10

Denmark: submission deadline June 26. Shortlist with 3 films, selection on September 25. 

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

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

Guatemala: submission deadline July 27. 2 films are being considered. 

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

India: submission deadline September 7
Indonesia: submission deadline August 30. Selection process from September 2 to 14, selection on September 15.
Italy: submission deadline September 16

Jordan: submission deadline August 22.

Kazakhstan: submission deadline September 5
Kenya: submission deadline September 11. Selection on September 23.
Kyrgyzstan: submission deadline August 17

Lebanon: submission deadline September 14

Madagascar: submission deadline August 30
Malaysia: submission deadline July 30
Malta: submission deadline September 1
Mongolia: submission deadline September 17
Montenegro: submission deadline September 4

Nepal: submission deadline September 7
Netherlands: submission deadline July 20. Six films were submitted.
Nigeria: submissions deadline August 31

Pakistan: submission deadline August 10
Panama: submission deadline September 1st
Papua New Guinea: submission deadline August 15
Paraguay: submission deadline September 3
Philippines: submission deadline July 31. Shortlist with 8 films. Selection in September 4. 
Poland: submission deadline August 23. Selection on September 18. 
Portugal: shortlist with 6 films, voting until September 10, selection after.

Romania: submission deadline August 25. Selection on September 13
Rwanda: submission deadline August 25

Senegal: submission deadline September 10
Serbia: submission deadline August 31
Slovenia: submission deadline August 17
South Africa: submission deadline July 16
Spain: first round voting from August 28, shortlist with 3 films. Selection on September 16.
Sri Lanka: submissions deadline September 21

Tunisia: submissions deadline August 14, extended to August 21.

UK: submission deadline July 31
Ukraine: submission deadline August 19.  5 films registered. Extended deadline to September 2.

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.