2026 Oscar Predictions: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE and INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM (November)

With the official eligibility lists in for Documentary and International Feature Film, and without any glaring omissions from my first set of predictions, we can at least knock out one more piece of the puzzle.

We also have the Critics Choice doc winner (The Perfect Neighbor) and nominations from the International Documentary Association to add to this month’s table of kudos. The IDA also added a ‘Special Mentions’ subsection of their top award, adding six titles there.

201 features are eligible for consideration in the Documentary Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards. Some of the films have not yet had their required qualifying release and must fulfill that requirement and comply with all the category’s other qualifying rules to advance in the voting process.

Documentary features that have won a qualifying film festival award or have been submitted in the International Feature Film category as their country’s official selection are also eligible in the category. Films submitted in the Documentary Feature Film category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture. Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. The shortlist of 15 films will be announced on Tuesday, December 16, 2025.

Here are my 2026 Oscar nomination predictions in Documentary Feature and International Feature Film for November.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE (shortlist of 15)

Other contenders: BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (Rich Spirit) – Gotham NEW, The Encampments, Fiume o Morte!, Grand Theft Hamlet, My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay (HBO Max) ↓, One to One: John & Yoko, Predators (MTV Documentary Films / Paramount+) ↓, Prime Minister, Songs of Slow Burning Earth – IDA

86 countries or regions have submitted films that are eligible for consideration in the International Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes) produced outside the United States with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track.

Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must meet a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. The shortlist of 15 films will be announced on Tuesday, December 16, 2025.

Still expect to see the top Cannes winners find a place in the shortlist, with Spain’s Sirāt climbing this month for me. Two films I’m keeping an eye out for are Iceland’s The Love That Remains, North Macedonia’s doc contender The Tale of Silyan and Japan’s Kokuhô. I think any of them could break in.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM (shortlist of 15)

Next up: Belgium — Young Mothers (Music Box Films) – Cannes Best Screenplay, Canada — The Things You Kill (Cineverse), Iceland — The Love That Remains (Janus Films), India — Homebound (TBD), Japan — Kokuhô (GKids), Jordan — All That’s Left of You (Watermelon Pictures/Visibility Films), North Macedonia — The Tale of Silyan (National Geographic), United Kingdom — My Father’s Shadow (MUBI)

Other contenders: Chile — The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (Altered Innocence), Hungary — Orphan (TBD), Italy — Family (TBD), Mexico — We Shall Not Be Moved (TBD), Palestine — Palestine 36 (Watermelon Pictures), Philippines — Magellan (Janus Films), Poland — Franz (Cohen Media Group)

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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), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) 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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