Every autumn, news arrives from around the world that a country has chosen its film for the Oscars. Those announcements are the start of the race for the International Feature Film award, one of the most closely watched categories for audiences who follow cinema beyond Hollywood. The category has its own rules, and for the 99th Oscars those rules changed in an important way.
One film per country, chosen at home
The traditional route is the official selection. Each country or region is invited to submit one film, chosen by a single organisation, jury or committee approved by the Academy. The Academy's rules require that at least half of the selection committee's members are artists or craftspeople from the film industry, and that the committee's membership is submitted to the Academy in advance.
Only one film is accepted from each country or region as its official selection, and a country does not have to submit a film every year. Countries submitting for the first time, or after a long gap, have to apply for approval ahead of time. This is why the selection announcements matter so much: in most countries, being chosen is the only way into the category.
The language and creative control rules
The film's original dialogue track must be predominantly, meaning more than 50 percent, in a language or languages other than English, and accurate English subtitles are required. The submitting country or region must also confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of its citizens or residents, including people with refugee or asylum status there.
These rules explain some decisions that surprise audiences. A film set in a particular country but made mostly in English is not eligible for this category, even if it is otherwise celebrated internationally. And a co-production may be eligible for one country but not another depending on who held creative control.
The new festival route
For the 99th Oscars, the Academy added a second way to qualify. According to the Academy's announcement, a non-English language film can now also be submitted by winning a qualifying top award at certain international festivals: the Golden Bear at Berlin, the Busan Award for Best Film at Busan, the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, the Platform Award at Toronto and the Golden Lion at Venice. The Academy's FAQ notes that a film can qualify through only one of the two methods.
The Academy also changed how the award is credited. The film itself is now listed as the nominee rather than the country or region, and the director accepts the award on behalf of the creative team.
From submissions to nominees
Voting happens in rounds. In the preliminary round, Academy members who opt in watch a required minimum number of the eligible submissions and vote for up to fifteen films. The fifteen with the most votes form the shortlist. In the nominations round, members must see all fifteen shortlisted films for their ballot to count, and they vote for up to five. The top five become the nominees. Final voting for the award is restricted to members who have seen all five nominated films.
This viewing requirement is one of the reasons campaigns for international films focus so heavily on screenings. A film has to be seen by enough members to reach the shortlist.
Deadlines
The Academy publishes a submission deadline each year. For the 99th Oscars, the Academy's announcement lists September 30, 2026 as the deadline for International Feature Film submissions. That is why so many national selections are announced in late summer and early autumn.
Other categories are still open
Missing out on a country's selection does not shut a film out of the Oscars entirely. A non-English language film that meets the general eligibility rules, including a qualifying theatrical run in the United States, can compete in other categories such as Best Picture, directing, acting and screenplay. In 2024, for example, Anatomy of a Fall was not France's official selection for International Feature, yet it won the Oscar for Original Screenplay.
Why the category draws debate
Because each country chooses its own entry, national committees sometimes pick a film that critics abroad consider less strong than another contender, or they avoid films that are politically sensitive at home. The festival route is partly a response to that problem, giving major festival winners another path. It remains to be seen how the change will affect the field over time.
Reading the headlines
When a story says a film is "Oscar-eligible" or "in the running," check whether it has actually been selected by its country's committee or has won a qualifying festival award. Being popular at festivals is not enough on its own. And when a film is shortlisted, remember that the shortlist is a separate vote from the nominations, with its own viewing rules.