List of Academy Award–winning foreign-language films

The following is a list of foreign-language films that have won an Academy Award.

A theatrical poster for Japan's Gate of Hell, a recipient of the Academy Award for Best Costume Design as well as an Academy Honorary Award

Criteria[edit]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has given Academy Awards to foreign language films since 1945. The Academy defines a foreign language film as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. Films that meet these criteria are eligible for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. They can be nominated for awards in categories other than Best International Feature Film provided that they have been commercially released in Los Angeles County and comply with the special rules governing those categories. In addition, foreign-language films produced in the United States are not eligible for Best International Feature Film, but are eligible for awards in other categories.[1]

History[edit]

As of 2023, 27 foreign language films have won Academy Awards outside the Best International Feature Film category. The foreign language films with the most awards are Sweden's Fanny and Alexander, Taiwan's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, South Korea’s Parasite, and Germany’s All Quiet on the Western Front with four awards each, including the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.[2] Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Roma received ten Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, the highest number of nominations ever garnered for a foreign language film.[3][2][4]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1956.[5] The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award.[1] Before the competitive award was created in 1956, the Board of Governors of the Academy voted on a film every year that was considered the best foreign language film released in the United States, and there were no submissions. These films were recipients of Academy Honorary Awards.[6]

Other categories[edit]

Films that are eligible for the Best International Feature Film category are able to compete for other Academy Awards if they had been commercially released in Los Angeles County and fulfill the requirements of the categories they are participating in.[1] Among the foreign language films that have won Academy Awards outside the Best Foreign Language Film category, six have won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film while two, Shoeshine[7] and Gate of Hell have received an Academy Honorary Award.[8][9] Parasite is the only foreign film to win Best Picture so far although The Artist was the first silent film in French production to win Best Picture, but it was not submitted for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film due to it being ineligible. Roma won the award because it was a co-production of United States and Mexico.

Year
(Ceremony)
Film title used in nomination Original title Category Winner(s) Country Language(s)
1945
(18th)
Marie-Louise Writing
(original screenplay)
Richard Schweizer Switzerland Switzerland German
1954
(27th)
Gate of Hell[A] 地獄門 Costume Design
(color)
Sanzo Wada Japan Japan Japanese
1956
(29th)
The Red Balloon Le ballon rouge Writing
(original screenplay)
Albert Lamorisse France France French
1959
(32nd)
Serengeti Shall Not Die Serengeti darf nicht sterben Documentary Feature Bernhard Grzimek Germany Germany German
1960
(33rd)
Never on Sunday Poté tin Kyriakí(Ποτέ την Κυριακή) Music
(original song)
Manos Hadjidakis
for "Never On Sunday"
Greece Greece Greece
1961
(34th)
La Dolce Vita Costume Design
(black-and-white)
Piero Gherardi Italy Italy Italian, English, French, German
1962
(35th)
Divorce Italian Style Divorzio all'italiana Writing
(story and screenplay)
Ennio de Concini
Alfredo Giannetti
Pietro Germi
Italian
1963
(36th)
[B] Costume Design
(black-and-white)
Piero Gherardi Italian, English, French, German
1966
(39th)
A Man and a Woman[B] Un homme et une femme Writing
(story and screenplay)
Claude Lelouch
(story and screenplay)
Pierre Uytterhoeven
(screenplay)
France France French
1969
(42nd)
Z[B] Film Editing Françoise Bonnot Algeria Algeria French
1973
(46th)
Cries and Whispers Viskningar och rop Cinematography Sven Nykvist Sweden Sweden Swedish
1983
(56th)
Fanny and Alexander[B] Fanny och Alexander Art Direction
Cinematography
Costume Design
Anna Asp
(art direction)
Sven Nykvist
(cinematography)
Marik Vos
(costume design)
Swedish, German, Yiddish, English
1985
(58th)
Ran Costume Design Emi Wada Japan Japan Japanese
1990
(63rd)
Cyrano de Bergerac Costume Design Franca Squarciapino France France French
1995
(68th)
The Postman Il postino Music
(original dramatic score)
Luis Enrique Bacalov Italy Italy Italian, Spanish
1998
(71st)
Life Is Beautiful[B] La vita è bella Actor in a Leading Role
Music
(original dramatic score)
Roberto Benigni
(best actor)
Nicola Piovani
(original dramatic score)
Italian, German, English
2000
(73rd)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon[B][E] 臥虎藏龍 Art Direction
Cinematography
Music
(original score)
Tim Yip
(art direction)
Peter Pau
(cinematography)
Tan Dun
(original score)
Taiwan Taiwan
China China
Hong Kong Hong Kong
United States United States
Mandarin
2002
(75th)
Talk to Her Hable con ella Writing
(original screenplay)
Pedro Almodóvar Spain Spain Spanish
2004
(77th)
The Motorcycle Diaries[E] Diarios de motocicleta Music
(original song)
Jorge Drexler
for "Al otro lado del río"
Brazil Brazil
Argentina Argentina
Chile Chile
France France
Germany Germany
Peru Peru
United Kingdom United Kingdom
United States United States
Quechua, Spanish
2006
(79th)
Letters from Iwo Jima[C][E] Sound Editing Bub Asman
Alan Robert Murray
United States United States Japanese, English
2006
(79th)
Pan's Labyrinth El laberinto del fauno Art Direction
Cinematography
Makeup
Eugenio Caballero
(art direction)
Pilar Revuelta
(set decoration)
Guillermo Navarro
(cinematography)
David Martí
(makeup)
Montse Ribé
(makeup)
Mexico Mexico
Spain Spain
Spanish
2007
(80th)
La Vie en Rose[E] La Môme Actress in a Leading Role
Makeup
Marion Cotillard
(actress)
Jan Archibald
(makeup)
Didier Lavergne
(makeup)
France France
United Kingdom United Kingdom
Czech Republic Czech Republic
French
2011
(84th)
The Artist[D] Picture

Director

Actor in a Leading Role

Music

Costume Design

Thomas Langmann (producer)

Michel Hazanavicius (director)

Jean Dujardin (actor)

Ludovic Bource (composer)

Mark Bridges (costume design)

France France Silent film
2018
(91st)
Roma[B][E] Director
Cinematography
Alfonso Cuarón
(director, cinematography)
Mexico Mexico Spanish
Mixtec
2019
(92nd)
Parasite[B] 기생충 Picture
Director
Original Screenplay
Kwak Sin-ae
(picture)
Bong Joon-ho
(picture, director, screenplay)
Han Jin-won
(screenplay)
South Korea South Korea Korean
2022
(95th)
All Quiet on the Western Front[B] Im Westen nichts Neues Cinematography
Music
Production Design
James Friend
(cinematography)
Christian M. Goldbeck
(art direction)
Ernestine Hipper
(set decoration)
Volker Bertelmann (music)
Germany Germany German, French
2022
(95th)
RRR Music
(original song)
M. M. Keeravani (music)
Chandrabose (lyrics)
for "Naatu Naatu"
India India Telugu, English
2023
(96th)
Godzilla Minus One ゴジラ-1.0 Visual Effects Takashi Yamazaki
Kiyoko Shibuya
Masaki Takahashi
Tatsuji Nojima
Japan Japan Japanese
2023
(96th)
The Zone of Interest[B] Sound Tarn Willers
Johnnie Burn
United Kingdom United Kingdom German
2023
(96th)
The Boy and the Heron Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka

君たちはどう生きるか

Animated Feature Hayao Miyazaki

(director) Toshio Suzuki (producer)

Japan Japan Japanese
2023
(96th)
20 Days in Mariupol 20 днів у Маріуполі Documentary Feature Mstyslav Chernov

(director and producer) Michelle Mizner (producer) Raney Aronson-Rath (producer)

Ukraine Ukrainian

English Russian

2023
(96th)
Anatomy of a Fall Anatomie d'une chute Original Screenplay Arthur Harari

Justine Triet

France French, English, German

Notes[edit]

Academy Award-winning foreign language films using English dubbing[edit]

Year
(Ceremony)
Film title used in nomination Original title Category Winner(s) Country Language(s)
2002
(75th)
Spirited Away 千と千尋の神隠し Animated Feature Hayao Miyazaki Japan Japan Japanese
2005
(78th)
March of the Penguins La Marche de l'empereur Documentary Feature Luc Jacquet France France French

References[edit]

General
  • "Foreign Language Films Other Categories". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2008-02-24. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c "Special Rules for the Best Foreign Language Film Award". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2007-12-31. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  2. ^ a b "Foreign Language Films Other Categories". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2008-02-24. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  3. ^ "'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' Wins Best Foreign Film Oscar". People's Daily. 2001-03-26. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  4. ^ Clark, Mike (2006-02-27). "When Oscar stood tall". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  5. ^ "History of the Academy Awards – Page 2". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2007-12-28. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  6. ^ "History of the Academy Awards – Page 1". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  7. ^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038913/awards/[user-generated source]
  8. ^ a b Mermelstein, David (2007-08-23). "Toho's film catalog riddled with gems". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  9. ^ a b Variety Staff (2007-03-01). "Best Foreign Film". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-13.

External links[edit]