There are just over two weeks to go until the deadline for submission to the Best International Feature Film category of the 98th Academy Awards but the contest is already heating up.
As of today, Deadline has logged 48 entries with around 80 to 90 submissions expected to roll in overall by the October 1. See our roundup here.
Oscar hopefuls already gaining particular traction include Norway’s Sentimental Value, and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Gaza drama The Voice of Hind Rajab, about the killing of six-year-old girl in the Palestinian territory, which is Tunisia’s entry.
Sentimental Value director Joachim Trier and cast members Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas were on a charm offensive at Telluride this month, building on the buzz generated out of Cannes, where the film world premiered in competition winning Grand Prix and was acquired by Neon.
In the meantime, Ben Hania’s timely drama The Voice of Hind Rajab whipped up a storm in Venice, generating a record-breaking 23-minute standing ovation and winning the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize.
Other buzzy entries include Park Chan-wook’s anarchic drama No Other Choice, which also wowed audiences in Venice and just kicked off its awards campaign with its North American premiere as a Gala Presentation at TIFF.
Further Asian films generating interest Taiwan’s Netflix-acquired entry Left-Handed Girl, the debut feature of Shih-Ching Tsou, co-written and produced with long-time Oscar-winning collaborator Sean Baker, who also edited.
Aside from The Voice of Hind Rajab, Middle East and North Africa region is fielding one of its strongest list of entries ever, with further titles to look out for including Maryam Touzani’s Calle Málaga (Morocco), Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36 (Palestine) and Cherien Dabis’s All That’s Left of You.
Intense selection processes
In the backdrop, several hard-fought national campaigns to be the entry are also underway.
Deadline hears that the contest is intense in Brazil, which took home the top international prize at 97th Academy Awards in March for Walter Salles’ political drama I’m Still Here.
Political thriller The Secret Agent – which premiered in Cannes in May, with Kleber Mendonça Filho winning Best Director and its star Wagner Moura clinching Best Actor – seemed like an obvious choice.
However, the recent local box office success of Gabriel Mascaro’s Berlinale Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winner, The Blue Trail, as well as its buzzy festival tour since, has also put the film strongly in the frame for a Best International Feature Film run.
Marianna Brennand’s debut feature Manas has also been given a boost by the recent arrival of Sean Penn on the production as an EP alongside 2025 winner Salles and two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne and I’m Still Here producer Maria Carlota Bruno.
Other candidates are Érico Rassi’s Same Old West and Luciano Vidigal’s White House.
With Brazil due to announce its candidate later today, I’m Still Here star Fernanda Torres entered the fray over the weekend.
In an Instagram post, she praised the strong set of submissions, enthusing: “Brazilian cinema is reborn like a phoenix”. Name-checking The Blue Trail and Manas, Torres said her personal preference was for The Secret Agent.
The selection process in France has also taken interesting turn with the positioning of Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s Farsi-language Cannes Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident to run as the country’s candidate.
Panahi’s public opposition to Iran’s Islamic Republic government means his film will not be put forward as the country’s Oscar entry, and it is unlikely that the director would want to take up that offer in any case.
The film’s french connection through Paris-based co-producer Les Films Pelléas and distributor Memento Distribution puts it in the frame to be the French entry.
If this comes to pass, he will follow in the footsteps of friend and fellow dissident Mohammad Rasoulof who represented Germany with The Seed of the Sacred Fig at the 97th Academy Awards, making it to the nomination stage.
Another interesting, unexpected addition to the French shortlist, which was announced last week was Ugo Bienvenu’s feature Arco. The film which is produced by Natalie Portman, was acquired by Neon for North America out of Cannes.
The other candidates include Richard Linklater’s French-language black-and-white film Nouvelle Vague, paying tribute to the French New Wave movement; Rebecca Zlotowski’s murder mystery A Private Life starring Jodie Foster, and Hafsia Herzi’s LGBT-themed drama Little Sister.
In a process overseen by the CNC, a committee of film professionals will audition the teams connected to the pre-selected films on September 17 and then decide the entry. In an unprecedented step, the CNC is keeping the identities of the professionals on the selection committee under wraps for now.
Other countries due to unveil their submissions on September 17 include Denmark and Spain.
Denmark’s shortlist consists of Jeanette Nordahl’s Beginnings, Anders Thomas Jensen’s The Last Viking and David Borenstein’s Mr. Nobody Against Putin. In Spain, the shortlist comprises Eva Libertad’s Deal, Carla Simón’s Romeria and Oliver Laxe’s Sirāt.
Pushing into next week, Italy has just unveiled a list of 24 films submitted to be its candidate ahead of a selection meeting overseen by film body Anica on September 23.
The hopefuls include Gianfranco Rosi’s Venice Special Jury Prize winner Below the Clouds as well as Pietro Marcello’s Duse and Leonardo Di Costanzo’s psychological drama Elisa which also debuted on the Lido.
In the meantime, Israel’s entry will be unveiled at the cinema industry’s Ophir Awards on September 16, with the winner of Best Feature automatically becoming the Israeli candidate.
Leading the nominations this year is is Shai Carmeli Pollak’s The Sea, about a Palestinian boy living in the West Bank who dodges Israeli checkpoints to see the ocean for the first time in his life.
Other frontrunners include Nadav Lapid’s Yes!, a biting satire critiquing Israeli society against the backdrop of the ongoing military campaign in Gaza, and Natali Braun’s Oxygen about a mother fighting to pull her son out of military service.
The storylines of all three favorites run counter to the politics of Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government and military campaigns in Gaza and the West Bank.
When the nominations were announced in August, the country’s Culture Minister Miki Zohar threatened to cut funding for the awards saying they promoted Palestinian narratives over national interests.
AMPAS will announce a shortlist for the category on December 16, with nominations to be announced January 22, 2026. The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15, 2026.
Zac Ntim contributed to this report.