Predicting the eventual five Oscar nominees for Best International Feature is made difficult by the three-step process that begins after the October 2, 2024 deadline for countries to submit entries. To be part of the selection process for this category, which was called Best Foreign Language Film before 2020, requires a great deal of dedication. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best International Feature.)
In 2023; a record 93 countries submitted entries in the International Feature Film race. That tally matched the benchmark set in 2020 and equalled in 2021. In turn, that was up by six from 2019, when the category was still called Best Foreign-Language Film, and eclipsed the record 92 submissions in 2018, 2022 and 2024.
In the days following the deadline for submissions, the academy determines each film’s eligibility. Then the several hundred academy members who serve on the International Feature screening committee are divided into groups and required to watch all their submissions over a six-week period that ends in early December. Their top 15 vote-getters will make it to the next round. That list of semi-finalists will be revealed on December 17, 2024.
These 15 films will be made available to the entire academy membership who can cast ballots for the final five nominees provided they attest to having watched all the entries. The nominations in this (and the other 22 competitive categories) will be announced on January 17, 2025. All voters will get access to the five nominees and can vote for the winner, which will be revealed on the 97th Academy Awards on March 2, 2025.
Since the competitive category was introduced in 1957, European films have dominated by winning 54 times including 2023’s German entry “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Compare that to five victories for films from Asia, three from each of Africa and South America, and one apiece from Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom (which won last year with Jonathan Glazer‘s WWII drama “The Zone of Interest”).
“The Zone of Interest” was the 10th film to be nominated for both Best International Feature and Best Picture following:
“Parasite” is the only film in Oscars history to win both of these awards. It was also South Korea’s first and, so far, only film to contend for the international award, giving it a 100% success rate. Italy has won a whopping 14 times. France is second with 12 victories while Japan is in third with five. Spain and Denmark both have four wins each; Sweden, Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Netherlands have won three times apiece; and Hungary, Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Austria, and Iran have won once each. France has the most nominations in this category with 41 bids while Italy is in second place with 33 citations and Spain is on 21 nominations. Conversely, Israel holds the record for most nominations without a win (10).
UPDATED: July 31, 2024
LEADING CONTENDERS
“All We Imagine As Light” (Condor Distribution/September Film) — India/Payal Kapadia
“The Count of Monte Cristo” (Pathé) — France/Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière
“Emilia Pérez” (Pathé) — Mexico/Jacques Audiard
“Evil Does Not Exist” (Incline) — Japan/Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“I’m Still Here” (Wild Bunch Productions) — Brazil/Walter Sallas
STRONG CONTENDERS
“Caught by the Tides” (TBC) — China/Jia Zhangke
“Emmanuelle” (Pathé) — France/Audrey Diwan
“The Girl With the Needle” (Nordisk Film) — Denmark/Magnus von Horn
“Grand Tour” (Uma Pedra no Sapato/Lucky Red/Shellac Films and Tandem) — Portugal/Miguel Gomes
“Kneecap” (Wildcard Distribution/Curzon Film) — Ireland/Rich Peppiatt
“Parthenope” (PiperFilm/Pathé) — Italy/Paolo Sorrentino
“Uprising” (Netflix) — South Korea/Kim Sang-man
POSSIBLE CONTENDERS
“Armand” (Norsk Filmdistribusjon) — Norway/Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
“The Most Precious of Cargoes” (StudioCanal) — France/Michel Hazanavicius
“Pedro Páramo” (Netflix) — Mexico/Rodrigo Prieto
“Reinas” (TBC) – Peru/Klaudia Reynicke-Candeloro
“Simon of the Mountain” (TBC) — Argentina/Federico Luis
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