Academy Award for Best International Feature Film facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
The 2024 recipient: Walter Salles
Presented by	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Country	United States
First awarded	March 20, 1948; 77 years ago (1948-03-20) (for films released in 1947)
Currently held by	I'm Still Here (2024)

The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film is a special prize given out every year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). This group is based in the United States. The award goes to a full-length movie made outside the U.S. that is mostly in a language other than English. Before 2020, this award was called the Best Foreign Language Film.

When the very first Academy Awards happened in 1929, there wasn't a separate award for movies in other languages. This was because most films back then were silent. From 1947 to 1955, the Academy gave out special "Honorary Awards" to the best foreign language films. These awards were not given every year, and there were no nominees. Only one film won each time.

In 1956, a new, competitive award was created. It was called the Best Foreign Language Film Award. Since then, it has been given out every year.

Even though directors are the ones who officially receive the International Feature Film Oscar, it's not just for them. The Academy sees it as an award for the whole country that submitted the film. It also honors all the creative people who worked on the movie. For a long time, the director's name wasn't even engraved on the Oscar statue. This changed in 2014. Now, the names of the winning directors are put on the Oscar statuette.

Most of these awards have gone to movies from Europe. Out of 77 awards given since 1947, 60 have gone to European films. Nine went to Asian films, five to films from the Americas, and three to African films. The Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini directed four movies that won this award. This is a record that no one has beaten yet.

Italy has won the most awards for its films, with 14 wins. This includes three special awards. Italy also has 33 nominations. France has the most nominations, with 41, and has won 12 times. Israel has been nominated 10 times but has not won. Portugal has submitted 40 films but has never received a nomination. In 2020, the South Korean movie Parasite made history. It was the first International Feature Film to also win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was also the first non-English language film to win Best Picture.

History of the Award
- A New Category is Born
Who Can Be Nominated?
- Other Reasons for Disqualification
How Films Are Chosen
Who Gets the Award?
See also

History of the Award

When the first Academy Awards took place in 1929, no foreign language films were honored. After World War II, from 1947 to 1955, eight foreign language films received special awards. A leader of the Academy, Jean Hersholt, believed that an international award could help filmmakers from different countries connect better.

The first foreign language film to get such an award was the Italian drama Shoeshine. The Academy praised its high quality, saying it showed how creativity can win even in a country affected by war. In the years that followed, similar awards went to seven other films. These included films from Italy, France, and Japan. One film was also a joint project between France and Italy. These awards were not given regularly. For example, no award was given in 1954. Also, they were not competitive, meaning there were no nominees, just one winner.

A New Category is Born

A separate category for films not in English was created in 1956. It was called the Best Foreign Language Film Award. This award has been given out every year since then. The first movie to win this new award was the Italian drama La Strada. This film helped make Federico Fellini one of Europe's most important directors.

In 2019, the Academy decided to change the name of the category. Starting with the 2020 Academy Awards, it became the Best International Feature Film. The Academy felt that the word "Foreign" sounded old-fashioned. They believed the new name better showed what the category was about. It also promotes a more positive and welcoming view of filmmaking around the world. Now, animated movies and documentaries can also be entered in this category. The other rules for entering films stayed the same.

Who Can Be Nominated?

Unlike other Academy Awards, movies for the International Feature Film Award do not need to be shown in the United States to be considered. Films must have been first released in the country that submits them. This must happen during a specific time period set by the Academy's rules. They also need to have been shown for at least seven days in a movie theater. The time period for this award is usually different from most other Oscar categories. It often starts and ends earlier than the regular awards year.

People sometimes call this award the "Foreign Film Oscar." However, this can be confusing. The language of the film is more important than its nationality. Even though a film must be made outside the United States, it also has to be in a language other than English. Movies from other countries that have American actors whose voices are dubbed can still be nominated. An example is Battle of Neretva (1969).

However, foreign films where most of the talking is in English cannot qualify. The Academy is very strict about this rule. For example, the Nigerian film Lionheart (2019) was not allowed because it had too much English dialogue. Interestingly, some films with no dialogue at all have been nominated. These include the 1983 Algerian dance film Le Bal and the 2024 Latvian animated film Flow.

Other Reasons for Disqualification

A film can also be disqualified if it was shown on TV or the Internet before it was released in theaters. This happened to the Dutch film Bluebird (2004). A film might also be rejected if the country submitting it did not have enough artistic control over the movie. Several films have been disqualified for this reason. One recent example is Persian Lessons (2020), which Belarus submitted.

Most disqualifications happen before the nominations are announced. But one film, A Place in the World (1992) from Uruguay, was disqualified after it had already been nominated. This was because Uruguay did not have enough artistic control over it. As of the 2021 awards, this is the only film ever removed from the final list after being nominated in this category.

Since the 2006 Academy Awards, films no longer have to be in the official language of the country submitting them. This rule change was made because of cases like the Italian film Private (2004). That film was disqualified simply because its main languages were Arabic and Hebrew, which are not native languages of Italy. This change allowed countries like Canada to nominate a Hindi-language film, Water. Before this, Canada had only been nominated for French-language films.

However, this rule change did not affect American films not in English. They are still not allowed in this category because of their nationality. For example, a Japanese-language film like Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) could not compete for this Oscar. Even though it won a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, which has different rules.

All films made inside the United States cannot be considered for this award, no matter what language they are in. This includes films made in U.S. territories. However, Puerto Rico, which is a U.S. territory, used to be able to submit films. Puerto Ricans have been American citizens since 1917. Their film Santiago, the Story of his New Life (1989) even received a nomination. But in 2011, the Academy decided that Puerto Rico could no longer submit films.

How Films Are Chosen

Every country (except the United States) is invited to submit what it believes is its best film to the Academy. Only one film is accepted from each country. A special group, jury, or committee made up of people from the film industry must choose the film. For example, the British film entry is chosen by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The names of the people in this selection group must be sent to the Academy.

After each country submits its film, copies with English subtitles are watched by a special committee. This committee then secretly votes to choose the five official nominees. For the 2006 Academy Awards, this process changed a bit. A list of nine films was announced first. Then, a smaller committee of 30 members watched these films and chose the final five nominees. The process changed again for the 2020 Academy Awards. Now, all Academy members can take part in choosing the nominees. As of 2022, a two-committee system is back. A "Preliminary Committee" makes a shortlist of fifteen films. Then, a "Nominating Committee" narrows it down to the final five nominees.

Who Gets the Award?

The International Feature Film Award is seen as an award for the submitting country and all the creative people involved in the film. The film's director is the official recipient. Their name is written on the Oscar statue's plaque, after the country's name and the movie's title. For example, the Oscar won by the Canadian film The Barbarian Invasions (2003) was displayed in a museum in Quebec City.

The rules for this award state that the Oscar statue goes to the film. The director accepts it on behalf of everyone who worked on the movie. For the Academy Awards, the country is listed as the nominee. The director's name is then added to the statue's plaque. So, the director is the only official person to receive the award at the ceremony. However, this only started happening after the 2014 rule change. Before that, the award was always seen as a group effort. For example, Federico Fellini is considered to have collectively received the four Oscars his films won. His 1992 Honorary Award was the only Oscar he won just for himself.

In contrast, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is given to both the director and the producer. Their rules say that up to two people can be nominated per film. In 2014, it was announced that the director's name would be engraved on the Oscar statuette, along with the country's name.