Italy has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since the conception of the award. The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. The category was not formally created until 1956 Academy Awards; however, between 1947 and 1955, the Academy presented Honorary Awards to the best foreign language films released in the United States. These awards were not competitive, as there were no nominees but simply a winner every year that was voted on by the Board of Governors of the Academy. Three Italian films received Honorary Awards during this period.
As of 2026, Italy has been nominated thirty-three times, winning fourteen times films. Among all countries that have submitted films for the award, Italy ranks first in terms of films that have won the award, followed by France (twelve awards) and Japan (five awards), and second in terms of nominees, behind France (forty-two nominations) and ahead of Spain (twenty-one nominations).
Submissions 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 International Feature Film since 1956. The International Feature Film 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. Before the award was created, 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.
The only Italian filmmakers to win multiple awards are Federico Fellini and Vittorio De Sica. Fellini received four awards for La Strada (1954), Nights of Cabiria (1957), 8½ (1963), and Amarcord (1973), the most in the history of the Academy, and had other three other films submitted but not nominated. De Sica received two Honorary Awards for Shoeshine (1946) and Bicycle Thieves (1948) and two competitive wins for Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) and The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970), alongside a nomination for Marriage Italian Style (1964).
Other winners include: The Walls of Malapaga (1950), Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970), Cinema Paradiso (1989), Mediterraneo (1991), Life Is Beautiful (1998), and The Great Beauty (2013).
The Unknown Woman (2007) and Vermiglio (2024) advanced to the December shortlists, but were not nominated.
All the films submitted are primary in Italian. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Italy for review by the Academy for the award since its conception.
Year Film title used in nomination Original title Director(s) Result 1947(20th) Shoeshine Sciuscià 1949(22nd) Bicycle Thieves Ladri di biciclette 1950(23rd) The Walls of Malapaga Le mura di Malapaga 1956(29th) La Strada 1957(30th) Nights of Cabiria Le notti di Cabiria 1958(31st) Big Deal on Madonna Street I soliti ignoti 1959(32nd) The Great War La grande guerra 1960(33rd) Kapò 1961(34th) La Notte 1962(35th) The Four Days of Naples Le quattro giornate di Napoli 1963(36th) 8½ Otto e mezzo 1964(37th) Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Ieri, oggi, domani 1965(38th) Marriage Italian Style Matrimonio all'Italiana 1966(39th) The Battle of Algiers La battaglia di Algeri 1967(40th) China is Near La Cina è vicina 1968(41st) The Girl with the Pistol La ragazza con la pistola 1969(42nd) Fellini Satyricon 1970(43rd) Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto 1971(44th) The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini 1972(45th) Roma 1974(47th) Amarcord 1975(48th) Scent of a Woman Profumo di donna 1976(49th) Seven Beauties Pasqualino Settebellezze 1977(50th) A Special Day Una giornata particolare 1978(51st) Viva Italia! I nuovi mostri , Dino Risi and Ettore Scola 1979(52nd) To Forget Venice Dimenticare Venezia 1980(53rd) A Leap in the Dark Salto nel vuoto 1981(54th) Three Brothers Tre fratelli 1982(55th) The Night of the Shooting Stars La notte di San Lorenzo 1983(56th) And the Ship Sails On E la nave va 1984(57th) Where's Picone? Mi manda Picone 1985(58th) Macaroni Maccheroni 1986(59th) Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil Notte d'estate con profilo greco, occhi a mandorla e odore di basilico 1987(60th) The Family La famiglia 1988(61st) The Legend of the Holy Drinker La leggenda del santo bevitore 1989(62nd) Cinema Paradiso Nuovo Cinema Paradiso 1990(63rd) Open Doors Porte aperte 1991(64th) Mediterraneo 1992(65th) The Stolen Children Il ladro di bambini 1993(66th) The Great Pumpkin Il grande cocomero 1994(67th) Lamerica 1995(68th) The Star Maker L'uomo delle stelle 1996(69th) My Generation La mia generazione 1997(70th) The Best Man Il testimone dello sposo 1998(71st) Life Is Beautiful La vita è bella 1999(72nd) Not of This World Fuori dal mondo 2000(73rd) The Hundred Steps I cento passi 2001(74th) The Son's Room La stanza del figlio 2002(75th) Pinocchio 2003(76th) I'm Not Scared Io non ho paura 2004(77th) The Keys to the House Le chiavi di casa 2005(78th) Don't Tell La bestia nel cuore 2006(79th) Golden Door Nuovomondo 2007(80th) The Unknown Woman La sconosciuta 2008(81st) Gomorrah Gomorra 2009(82nd) Baarìa 2010(83rd) The First Beautiful Thing La prima cosa bella 2011(84th) Terraferma 2012(85th) Caesar Must Die Cesare deve morire 2013(86th) The Great Beauty La grande bellezza 2014(87th) Human Capital Il capitale umano 2015(88th) Don't Be Bad Non essere cattivo 2016(89th) Fire at Sea Fuocoammare 2017(90th) A Ciambra 2018(91st) Dogman 2019(92nd) The Traitor Il traditore 2020(93rd) Notturno 2021(94th) The Hand of God È stata la mano di Dio 2022(95th) Nostalgia 2023(96th) Io Capitano 2024(97th) Vermiglio 2025(98th) Familia Francesco Costabile 2026(99th) The Spiral L'estranea Paolo Strippoli
Shortlisted films Every year since 2009, Italy has announced a list of finalists that varied in number over the years (from 4 to 25 films) before announcing its official Oscar nominee. The following films have been shortlisted by the Italy's Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche Audiovisive e Multimediali: YearFilms2009The Big Dream · The Double Hour · Vincere201020 Cigarettes · Basilicata Coast to Coast · The Double Hour · I Am Love · Kiss Me Again · Loose Cannons · The Man Who Will Come · La nostra vita · Le quattro volte2011Angel of Evil · Escort in Love · Heavenly Body · News from the Excavations · Tatanka · We Believed · We Have a Pope2012Balancing Act · The Big Heart of Girls · Diaz – Don't Clean Up This Blood · Dormant Beauty · A Flat for Three · It Was the Son · Là-bas: A Criminal Education · Magnificent Presence · Reality2013A Five Star Life · Long Live Freedom · Midway – Between Life and Death · Miele · The Mongrel · Salvo2014Black Souls · Fasten Your Seatbelts · Quiet Bliss · Song'e Napule · Sotto una buona stella · The Wonders2015Blood of My Blood · For Your Love · Latin Lover · Leopardi · Mia Madre · Sworn Virgin · The Wait · You Can't Save Yourself Alone2016Indivisible · The Last Will Be the Last · Perfect Strangers · Pericle · Suburra · They Call Me Jeeg2017The Ark of Disperata · Cinderella the Cat · Equilibrium · Everything You Want · A Family · Fortunata · I Have Friends in Heaven · It's the Law · Pure Hearts · The Order of Things · Sicilian Ghost Story · The Stuff of Dreams · Tenderness2018As Needed · Bloody Richard · Boys Cry · Caina · L'Esodo · Il figlio sospeso · The Girl in the Fog · Happy as Lazzaro · Imperfect Age · Just Like My Son · Like a Cat on a Highway · Little Tito and the Aliens · Manuel · Naples in Veils · A Woman's Name · On My Skin · The Place · The Stolen Caravaggio · There's No Place Like Home · Where I've Never Lived2019The First King: Birth of an Empire · Martin Eden · Piranhas · The Vice of Hope202018 Presents · Alone with Her Dreams · Aspromonte: Land of the Forgotten · Bad Tales · Bar Joseph · Citizens of the World · Il delitto Mattarella · The Goddess of Fortune · Hidden Away · Into the Labyrinth · The Life Ahead · The Macaluso Sisters · Out of My League · Padrenostro · Pinocchio · The Predators · Rose Island · The Shift · The Stonebreaker · Thou Shalt Not Hate · Tornare · Trash · The Truth About La Dolce Vita · Volare20213/19 · A Chiara · A Girl Returned · The Bad Poet · The Catholic School · Mondocane · Ennio · I fratelli De Filippo · Freaks Out · The Giants · The Inner Cage · The King of Laughter · Parsifal · Superheroes · Three Floors · We Still Talk · Yaya e Lennie: The Walking Liberty2022Caravaggio's Shadow · Chiara · Dante · The Eight Mountains · Giulia · The Hummingbird · L'immensità · Lord of the Ants · Mindemic · Small Body · Strangeness2023A Brighter Tomorrow · Casanova's Return · Fireworks · Kidnapped · Last Night of Amore · La chimera · Land of Women · Mixed by Erry · Supernova · Thank You Guys · There's Still Tomorrow2024Accattaroma · Battlefield · Confidenza · Food for Profit · Gloria! · How Kids Roll · La casa di Ninetta · The Life Apart · Lubo · My Place Is Here · A Hundred Sundays · The Other Way · Palazzina Laf · Parthenope · Taxi Monamour · The Time It Takes · Volare · Zamora2025The American Backyard · Below the Clouds · The Boy with Pink Pants · The Children's Train · Diamonds · Diva Futura · Duse · Elisa · Eternal Visionary · The Flood · Fuori · The Great Ambition · Hey Joe · Joachim and the Apocalypse · The Last One for the Road · Madly · Naples to New York · The Negotiator · Siblings · The Sicilian Storyteller · The Tasters · Trifole · Vittoria2026Anna · Back to Buenos Aires · Children of the Monkey · Controcorrente A Rebours · The Eyes of Others · Finale: Allegro · Hitler's Big Fear: The Trial Against Degenerate Art · It Will Happen Tonight · Judas' Gospel · Life Goes This Way · Mosquitoes · Orfeo · Quasi Grazia · Per te · Primavera · La salita · Serpenti · Sweetheart · The Things Left Unspoken · Three Goodbyes
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award–winning foreign-language films List of countries by number of Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film Cinema of Italy
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page