2022 Oscars: International Feature Film Official Selections

The race for the International Feature Film Oscar has begun.

For the first time ever, Ecuador kicks off the season with the first official Oscar submission with Submersible (Sumergible) directed by Alfredo León León, his first entry for the South American country. Submersible details the story of a handmade narco sub on the verge of sinking and losing its precious cargo due to a mechanical failure. The three crew members are forced to open the forbidden cargo cabin to distribute the weight and save the ship. Next to the cargo they find a special “gift“ for the buyer: a young girl, gagged and in terrible shape. The boat, barely big enough for three to begin with, becomes a steaming powder cake of fears, desires and greed. This is Ecuador’s 10th submission overall, it has yet to receive an Oscar nomination.

A shortlist of 15 qualifying films will be announced on December 21, 2020 with Oscar nominations revealed on February 8, 2021. The 94th Academy Awards will be held on March 27, 2021.

Since the beginning of 2020, the unprecedented coronavirus/COVID-19 global pandemic mandated the closure of commercial motion picture theaters worldwide. Country-selected films that had a previously planned theatrical release but are initially made available through a reputable commercial streaming distribution service or video on demand may qualify for Awards consideration in the International Feature Film category for the 94th Academy Awards under these provisions:

• Provide to the Academy documentation (original document(s) and an English translation) of
  government-mandated theater/cinema closure dates, previously planned theatrical release and
  streaming distribution or video on demand agreements;
• Make the selected film available on the secure Academy Screening Room member site within 60 days of the film being officially selected;
• Meet all other eligibility requirements.
• When theaters reopen in accordance with national and local specified guidelines and criteria, and on a
  date to be determined by the Academy, this exemption to the rules will no longer apply. All films released
  thereafter will be expected to comply with the standard International Feature Film category theatrical
  qualifying requirements.

In order for films to more easily meet theatrical exhibition requirements, the Academy will allow
films to qualify outside the country of origin, provided the film is theatrically exhibited outside of the
United States and its territories for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theater
for paid admission. The International Feature Executive Committee will evaluate all matters of rules and
eligibility.

Film festivals have been impacted by the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. Participation in an impacted
festival’s online/virtual platform will not affect a film’s eligibility for Awards consideration provided the
festival has a transactional pay wall or password-protected entry. Film festival participation does not
qualify a film in the International Feature Film category. Films must comply with all other eligibility
requirements for the 94th Academy Awards.

Due to the global pandemic caused by coronavirus/COVID-19, all dates and matters of rules and
eligibility for the 94th Academy Awards are subject to change based on national guidelines, state-mandated government orders and Academy determined-best practices.

An international film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the
United States of America and its territories with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue
track. Animated and documentary feature films are permitted.

The country-selected film must be first released in the country of origin no earlier than January 1,
2021, and no later than December 31, 2021, and be first publicly exhibited for at least seven
consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theater for the profit of the producer and exhibitor.

Films that, in any version, receive a nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution before their
first qualifying theatrical release will not be eligible for Academy Awards consideration.

The recording of the original dialogue track as well as the completed picture must be predominantly
(more than 50%) in a language or languages other than English. ACCURATE, LEGIBLE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE SUBTITLES ARE REQUIRED. Assets need burned-in subtitles.

The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of
citizens or residents of the submitting country.

The International Feature Film Executive Committee shall resolve all questions of eligibility and rules.

Submission deadlines:

A list of the selection committee members must be submitted to the Academy no later than WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2021, or by the submission deadline published by the Academy.

All submission materials must be submitted to the Academy by 5 p.m. PT on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021.

Stats, Notes and Superlatives

Foreign-language/International Feature films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar

Between 1947 and 1955, the Academy presented Special Awards to the best foreign language films released in the U.S. Because these awards were not handed out on a regular basis and didn’t have any nominees, they were not competitive. For the 29th Academy Awards in 1956, a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English speaking films. It has since then been awarded annually category. Nearly 20 years earlier, Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion (France) was nominated for Best Picture in 1938, its only nomination. 2006’s Letters From Iwo Jima was a Japanese-spoken US production not an official submission for foreign language film.

In 1957, Denmark became the first country to send a film with a female director to the Foreign Oscar competition (Annelise Hovmand’s Be Dear to Me). Two years later, Astrid Henning-Jensen’s Paw became to the first film directed by a woman to receive a nomination in the category.

Since the inception of the foreign language/international feature Oscar, only 9 films have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. 2019’s South Korea’s Parasite became the first ever to win.

The biggest losers: While Israel is the biggest loser with 10 nominations and no wins in this category, and Portugal is the currently the most unsuccessful country for getting a nomination with the most submissions (at 36), Philippines holds another record. It’s the sole country which sent a submission film at the first competitive year (1956) that hasn’t gotten an Oscar nom yet. The other 7 countries that submitted that first year – France, Italy, West Germany (now Germany), Denmark, Sweden, Japan and Spain – all of these ended up winning at least once.

Number of films with women directors or co-directors (21): Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Haiti, Indonesia, Kosovo, Iraq, Mexico, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Portugal, South Africa, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Submissions with LGBTQ+ subjects or themes: Austria, Brazil, Denmark

Countries with potential eligibility issues: Colombia

Countries submitting for the first time: Somalia

Here is the official list of submissions for the International Feature Film Oscar, updating throughout the season.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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