2025 Oscar Predictions: Best International Feature

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 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.

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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 of Best Foreign Language Film was introduced in 1957 (the name changed in 2020), European films have dominated by winning 54 times including  2023’s German entry “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Compare that to nine 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 this prize and Best Picture following:

  • “Z” (1970) — won Best Foreign Language Film

  • “The Emigrants” (1972)

  • “Life is Beautiful” (1999) — won Best Foreign Language Film

  • “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2001) — won Best Foreign Language Film

  • “Amour” (2013) — won Best Foreign Language Film

  • “Roma” (2019)— won Best Foreign Language Film

  • “Parasite” (2020) — won Best Picture and Best International Feature

  • “Drive My Car” (2022) — won Best International Feature

  • “All Quiet on the Western Front” (2023) — won Best International Feature

“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) while Portugal has submitted 40 films and has yet to reap a bid.

UPDATED: October 10, 2024 (88 countries)

LEADING CONTENDERS

Brazil: “I’m Still Here” (Walter Salles)

Cambodia: “Meeting with Pol Pot” (Rithy Panh)

Chile: “In Her Place” (Maite Alberdi)

France: “Emilia Pérez” (Jacques Audiard)

Germany: “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Mohammad Rasoulof)

Iceland: “Touch” (Baltasar Kormákur)

Ireland: “Kneecap” (Rich Peppiatt)

Mexico: “Sujo” (Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez)

STRONG CONTENDERS

Argentina: “Kill the Jockey” (Luis Ortega)

Belgium: “Julie Keeps Quiet” (Leonardo Van Dijl)

Canada: “Universal Language” (Matthew Rankin)

Denmark: “The Girl With the Needle” (Magnus von Horn)

Italy: “Vermiglio” (Maura Delpero)

Netherlands: “Memory Lane” (Jelle de Jonge)

Portugal: “Grand Tour” (Miguel Gomes)

United Kingdom: “Santosh” (Sandhya Suri)

POSSIBLE CONTENDERS

Albania: “Waterdrop” (Robert Budina)

Algeria: “Algiers” (Chakib Taleb-Bendiab)

Armenia: “Yasha and Leonid Brezhnev” (Edgar Baghdasaryan)

Austria: “The Devil’s Bath” (Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz)

Bolivia: “Own Hand” (Gory Pati?o)

Bosnia and Herzegovina: “My Late Summer” (Danis Tanovi?)

Bulgaria: “Triumph” (Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov)

Cameroon: “Kismet” (Ngang Romanus Ntseh)

China: “The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru” (Fang Li)

Colombia: “La Suprema” (Felipe Holguin)

Costa Rica: “Memories of a Burning Body” (Antonella Sudasassi)

Croatia: “Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day” (Ivona Juka)

Czech Republic: “Waves” (Ji?í Mádl)

Dominican Republic: “Aire: Just Breathe” (Leticia Tonos)

Ecuador: “Behind the Mist” (Sebastián Cordero)

Egypt: “Flight 404” (Hani Khalifa)

Estonia: “8 Views of Lake Biwa” (Marko Raat)

Finland: “Family Time” (Tia Kouvo)

Georgia: “The Antique” (Rusudan Glurjidze)

Greece: “Murderess” (Eva Nathena)

Guatemala: “Rita” (Jayro Bustamante)

Haiti: “Kidnapping, Inc.” (Bruno Mourral)

Hong Kong: “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” (Soi Cheang)

Hungary: “Semmelweis” (Lajos Koltai)

India: “Laapataa Ladies” (Kiran Rao)

Indonesia: “Women from Rote Island” (Jeremias Nyangoen)

Iran: “In the Arms of the Tree” (Babak Lotfi Khajepasha)

Iraq: “Baghdad Messi” (Sahim Omar Kalifa)

Ireland: “Kneecap” (Rich Peppiatt)

Israel: “Come Closer” (Tom Nesher)

Japan: “Cloud” (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

Jordan: “My Sweet Land” (Sareen Hairabedian)

Kazakhstan: “Bauryna Salu” (Askhat Kuchencherekov)

Kenya: “Nawi” (Vallentine Chelluget, Apuu Mourine, Kevin Schmutzler, and Toby Schmutzler)

Kyrgyzstan: “Heaven is Beneath Mother’s Feet” (Ruslan Akun)

Latvia: “Flow” (Gints Zilbalodis)

Lithuania: “Drowning Dry” (Laurynas Barei?a)

Malaysia: “Abang Adik” (Jin Ong)

Malta: “Castillo” (Abigail Mallia)

Mongolia: “If Only I Could Hibernate” (Zoljargal Purevdash)

Montenegro: “Supermarket” (Nemanja Be?anovi?)

Morocco: “Everybody Loves Touda” (Nabil Ayouch)

Nepal: “Shambhala” (Min Bahadur Bham)

Norway: “Armand” (Halfdan Ullmann T?ndel)

Pakistan: “The Glassworker” (Usman Riaz)

Palestine: “From Ground Zero” (Various Directors)

Panama: “Wake Up Mom” (Arianne Benedetti)

Paraguay: “The Last” (Sebastián Pe?a Escobar)

Peru: “Yana-Wara” (óscar Catacora and Tito Catacora)

Philippines: “And So It Begins” (Ramona S. Diaz)

Poland: “Under the Volcano” (Damian Kocur)

Romania: “Three Kilometres to the End of the World” (Emanuel Parvu)

Senegal: “Dahomey” (Mati Diop)

Serbia: “Russian Consul” (Miroslav Leki?)

Singapore: “La Luna” (M. Raihan Halim)

Slovakia: “The Hungarian Dressmaker” (Iveta Grófová)

Slovenia: “Family Therapy” (Sonja Prosenc)

South Africa: “Old Righteous Blues” (Muneera Sallies)

South Korea: “12.12: The Day” (Kim Sung-su)

Spain: “Saturn Return” (Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez)

Sweden: “The Last Journey” (Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson)

Switzerland: “Reinas” (Klaudia Reynicke)

Tajikistan: “Melody” (Behrouz Sebt Rasoul)

Taiwan: “Old Fox” (Hsiao Ya-chuan)

Thailand: “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” (Pat Boonnitipat)

Tunisia: “Take My Breath” (Nada Mezni Hafaiedh)

Turkey: “Life” (Zeki Demirkubuz)

Ukraine: “La Palisiada” (Philip Sotnychenko)

Uruguay: “The Door Is There” (Facundo Ponce de León and Juan Ponce de León)

Venezuela: “Children of Las Brisas” (Marianela Maldonado)

Vietnam: “Peach Blossom, Pho and Piano” (Phi Ti?n S?n)

Zambia: “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” (Rungano Nyoni)

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