The following is a list of foreign-language films that have won an Academy Award.
Criteria 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.
History 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
Other categories
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. 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, Shoeshinehttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038913/awards/ and Gate of Hell have received an Academy Honorary Award. 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) Switzerland German 1954(27th) Gate of Hell 地獄門 Costume Design(color) Japan Japanese 1956(29th) The Red Balloon Le ballon rouge Writing(original screenplay) France French 1959(32nd) Serengeti Shall Not Die Serengeti darf nicht sterben Documentary Feature Germany German 1960(33rd) Never on Sunday Poté tin Kyriakí(Ποτέ την Κυριακή) Music(original song) for "Never On Sunday" Greece Greece 1961(34th) La Dolce Vita Costume Design(black-and-white) Italy Italian, English, French, German 1962(35th) Divorce Italian Style Divorzio all'italiana Writing(story and screenplay) Alfredo GiannettiPietro Germi Italian 1963(36th) 8½ Costume Design(black-and-white) Italian, English, French, German 1966(39th) A Man and a Woman Un homme et une femme Writing(story and screenplay) (story and screenplay)Pierre Uytterhoeven(screenplay) France French 1969(42nd) Z Film Editing Algeria French 1973(46th) Cries and Whispers Viskningar och rop Cinematography Sweden Swedish 1983(56th) Fanny and Alexander Fanny och Alexander Art DirectionCinematographyCostume Design (art direction)Sven Nykvist(cinematography)Marik Vos(costume design) Swedish, German, Yiddish, English 1985(58th) Ran 乱 Costume Design Japan Japanese 1990(63rd) Cyrano de Bergerac France French 1995(68th) The Postman Il postino Music(original dramatic score) Italy Italian, Spanish 1998(71st) Life Is Beautiful La vita è bella Actor in a Leading RoleMusic(original dramatic score) (best actor)Nicola Piovani(original dramatic score) Italian, German, English 2000(73rd) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 臥虎藏龍 Art DirectionCinematographyMusic(original score) (art direction)Peter Pau(cinematography)Tan Dun(original score) Taiwan China Hong Kong United States Mandarin 2002(75th) Talk to Her Hable con ella Writing(original screenplay) Spain Spanish 2004(77th) The Motorcycle Diaries Diarios de motocicleta Music(original song) for "Al otro lado del río" Brazil Argentina Chile France Germany Peru United Kingdom United States Quechua, Spanish 2006(79th) Letters from Iwo Jima Sound Editing Alan Robert Murray United States Japanese, English 2006(79th) Pan's Labyrinth El laberinto del fauno Art DirectionCinematographyMakeup (art direction)Pilar Revuelta(set decoration)Guillermo Navarro(cinematography)David Martí(makeup)Montse Ribé(makeup) Mexico Spain Spanish 2007(80th) La Vie en Rose La Môme Actress in a Leading RoleMakeup (actress)Jan Archibald(makeup)Didier Lavergne(makeup) France United Kingdom Czech Republic French 2011(84th) The ArtistPictureDirectorActor in a Leading RoleMusicCostume DesignThomas Langmann (producer)Michel Hazanavicius director)Jean Dujardin (actor)Ludovic Bource (composer)Mark Bridges (costume design) FranceSilent film 2018(91st) Roma DirectorCinematography (director, cinematography) Mexico Spanish, Mixtec 2019(92nd) Parasite 기생충 PictureDirectorOriginal Screenplay Kwak Sin-ae (picture)Bong Joon-ho (picture, director, screenplay)Han Jin-won (screenplay) South Korea Korean 2022(95th) All Quiet on the Western Front Im Westen nichts Neues CinematographyMusicProduction Design James Friend (cinematography)Christian M. Goldbeck (art direction)Ernestine Hipper (set decoration)Volker Bertelmann (music) Germany German, French RRR Music(original song) (music)Chandrabose (lyrics)for "Naatu Naatu" India Telugu 2023(96th) Godzilla Minus One ゴジラ-1.0 Visual Effects Kiyoko ShibuyaMasaki TakahashiTatsuji Nojima Japan Japanese The Zone of Interest Sound Johnnie Burn United Kingdom GermanThe Boy and the Heron君たちはどう生きるかAnimated FeatureHayao Miyazaki (director)Toshio Suzuki (producer) JapanJapanese20 Days in Mariupol20 днів у МаріуполіDocumentary Feature Mstyslav Chernov (director and producer)Michelle Mizner (producer)Raney Aronson-Rath (producer) UkraineUkrainian, English, RussianAnatomy of a FallAnatomie d'une chuteOriginal ScreenplayArthur HarariJustine Triet FranceFrench, English2024FlowAnimated FeatureGints ZilbalodisMatīss KažaRon DyensGregory Zalcman Latvia France BelgiumNo dialogueNo Other LandDocumentary FeatureBasel AdraRachel SzorHamdan BallalYuval Abraham Palestine NorwayArabic, Hebrew, EnglishEmilia Pérez Actress in a Supporting RoleOriginal SongZoe Saldaña (Supporting actress)Clément Ducol (Music)Camille (Music)Jacques Audiard (Music) FranceSpanish, English2025Mr Nobody Against PutinDocumentary FeatureDavid BorensteinPavel TalankinHelle FaberAlžběta Karásková Denmark Czech Republic GermanyRussian, English
Notes Received an Academy Honorary Award as the best foreign language film in 1954 at the 27th Academy Awards Received an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in addition to awards in other categories Not eligible for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film because it was a U.S. production. Received an Academy Award for Best Picture, but it was not eligible or submitted for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Received an Academy Award, but it was a U.S. co-production.
Academy Award-winning foreign language films using English dubbing
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 Japan Japanese 2005(78th) March of the Penguins La Marche de l'empereur Documentary Feature France French2023(96th)The Boy and the Heron君たちはどう生きるかAnimated Feature JapanJapanese
References General
Specific
External links The Official Academy Awards Database
IMDb Academy Awards Page