Belgium has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1967. 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 "Best Foreign Language Film" category was not created until the 1956 Academy Awards, in which a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since. Between 1947 and 1955, the academy presented a non-competitive Honorary Award for the best foreign language films released in the United States.
As of 2026, Belgium has been nominated eight times. It most recent nominated film was Close (2022).
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.
Even though Belgium was nominated eight times, two-times Palme d'Or winners and acclaimed Belgian filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne were never nominated. They hold the record of most submitted directors, with 5 films selected to represent the country: Rosetta (1999), The Son (2002), The Child (2005), Two Days, One Night (2014) and Young Mothers (2025). However, French actress Marion Cotillard was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Two Days, One Night.
Two of the nominees were directed by Gérard Corbiau: The Music Teacher (1988) and Farinelli (1994). The six other Belgian filmmakers to have films accepted as nominees were: Jacques Boigelot's Peace in the Fields (1970), Stijn Coninx's Daens (1993), Dominique Deruddere's Everybody's Famous! (2000), Michaël R. Roskam's Bullhead (2011), Felix van Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012), and Lukas Dhont's Close (2022).
's The Brand New Testament (2015) and 's Playground (2021) both advanced to the December semifinalist shortlists, but were not nominated.
Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Belgium for review by the academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Language(s) Director(s) Result 1967(40th) Le Départ French Jerzy Skolimowski 1969(42nd) Palaver Swahili, Dutch, French, English, German, Latin 1970(43rd) Peace in the FieldsPaix sur les champs French 1972(45th) The Lonely Killers Les tueurs fous 1974(47th) The ConscriptDe loteling Dutch 1976(49th) High StreetRue Haute French 1977(50th) RubensRubens, schilder en diplomaat Dutch 1979(52nd) Woman in a Twilight GardenEen vrouw tussen hond en wolf 1981(54th) Le Grand Paysage d'Alexis Droeven French 1982(55th) MinuetMenuet Dutch 1985(58th) Dust French, English 1986(59th) JumpingSpringen Dutch Jean-Pierre De Decker 1987(60th) The Cruel EmbraceLes noces barbares French 1988(61st) The Music TeacherLe maître de musique 1989(62nd) The SacramentHet Sacrament Dutch 1991(64th) Toto the HeroToto le héros French 1992(65th) Daens Flemish, Dutch, French, Latin, Spanish 1993(66th) Just Friends Dutch, French 1994(67th) FarinelliFarinelli, Il Castrato Italian, French 1995(68th) Manneken PisManneken Pis Dutch 1996(69th) The Eighth DayLe huitième jour French 1997(70th) My Life in PinkMa vie en rose 1998(71st) Rosie Dutch 1999(72nd) Rosetta French Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne 2000(73rd) Everybody's Famous!Iedereen beroemd! Flemish, English, Spanish 2001(74th) Pauline & Paulette Dutch, French Lieven Debrauwer 2002(75th) The SonLe fils French Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne 2003(76th) Sea of SilenceVerder dan de maan Dutch 2004(77th) The Alzheimer CaseDe zaak Alzheimer Dutch, French, Flemish 2005(78th) The ChildL'Enfant French Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne 2006(79th) Someone Else's HappinessEen ander zijn geluk Dutch 2007(80th) Ben X Flemish, Dutch 2008(81st) Eldorado French 2009(82nd) The MisfortunatesDe helaasheid der dingen Dutch, Flemish Felix van Groeningen 2010(83rd) IllegalIllègal French, Russian, English 2011(84th) BullheadRundskop Dutch, French, Limburgish, West Flemish 2012(85th) Our ChildrenÀ perdre la raison French, Arabic 2013(86th) The Broken Circle BreakdownAlabama Monroe Flemish, English, Dutch Felix van Groeningen 2014(87th) Two Days, One NightDeux jours, une nuit French Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne 2015(88th) The Brand New TestamentLe Tout Nouveau Testament 2016(89th) The Ardennes D'Ardennen Flemish, French, Dutch Robin Pront 2017(90th) Racer and the JailbirdLe Fidèle 2018(91st) Girl Flemish, Dutch, French, English 2019(92nd) Our MothersNuestras madres Spanish 2020(93rd) Working GirlsFilles de joie French and Anne Paulicevich 2021(94th) PlaygroundUn monde 2022(95th) Close French, Dutch 2023(96th) Omen Augure French 2024(97th) Julie Keeps Quiet Julie zwijgt Dutch, French Leonardo Van Dijl 2025(98th)Young Mothers Jeunes mères French Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne 2026(99th) Coward French, Dutch
See also List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of countries by number of Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film Cinema of Belgium
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page