Hungary has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film every year since 1965, a streak beaten only by France, which has submitted every year since 1956. The category is awarded annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length film produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. Hungary's submission is selected annually by a Selection Committee of esteemed film professionals.
As of 2026, Hungary has been nominated ten times and won twice, for Mephisto (1981) and Son of Saul (2015).
Submissions
Every year, each country is invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to submit its best film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. 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.
István Szabó's films were selected to represent Hungary seven times, between 1967 and 1992, more than any other Hungarian director, and four of these films were nominated. Zoltán Fábri's films were selected four times between 1965 and 1978, and nominated twice.
Mephisto (1981), directed by Szabó, and Son of Saul (2015), directed by László Nemes, are the only Hungarian films to win the category.
Hungarian nominated films include: The Boys of Paul Street (1968), Cats' Play (1972), Hungarians (1978), Confidence (1980), Job's Revolt (1983), Colonel Redl (1985), Hanussen (1988), and On Body and Soul (2017).
The Notebook (2013) and Those Who Remained (2019) advanced to the December shortlists, but were not nominated.
Most of the films are primarily in Hungarian (also known as Magyar), although three of Istvan Szabo's films (Colonel Redl, Hanussen and Mephisto) all of which starred Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer, were largely in German, due to its World War II themes. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Hungary for review by the Academy for the award.
Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Language(s) Director(s) Result 1965(38th) Twenty Hours Húsz óraHungarian Zoltán Fábri 1966(39th) The Round-Up Szegénylegények Miklós Jancsó 1967(40th) Father Apa István Szabó 1968(41st) The Boys of Paul Street A Pál utcai fiúk Zoltán Fábri 1969(42nd) The Upthrown Stone Feldobott kő Sándor Sára 1970(43rd) Lovefilm Szerelmesfilm István Szabó 1971(44th) Love SzerelemHungarian, German Károly Makk 1972(45th) Present Indicative JelenidőHungarian Péter Bacsó 1973(46th) Photography Fotográfia Pál Zolnay 1974(47th) Cats' Play Macskajáték Károly Makk 1975(48th) Adoption Örökbefogadás Márta Mészáros 1976(49th) The Fifth Seal Az ötödik pecsét Zoltán Fábri 1977(50th) A Strange Role Herkulesfürdöi emlék Pál Sándor 1978(51st) Hungarians MagyarokHungarian, German, Polish Zoltán Fábri 1979(52nd) Angi VeraHungarian Pál Gábor 1980(53rd) Confidence BizalomHungarian, German István Szabó 1981(54th) MephistoGerman 1982(55th) Time Stands Still Megáll az időHungarian, Russian Péter Gothár 1983(56th) Job's Revolt Jób lázadásaHungarian Imre Gyöngyössy and Barna Kabay 1984(57th) Yerma 1985(58th) Colonel Redl Redl ezredesGerman, Hungarian István Szabó 1986(59th) Cat City MacskafogóHungarian Béla Ternovszky 1987(59th) Diary for My Lovers Napló szerelmeimnekHungarian, Russian Márta Mészáros 1988(61st) HanussenHungarian, German István Szabó 1989(62nd) My 20th Century Az én XX. századomHungarian Ildikó Enyedi 1990(63rd) Little but Tough Kicsi, de nagyon erős Ferenc Grünwalsky 1991(64th) Brats Félálom János Rózsa 1992(65th) Sweet Emma, Dear Böbe Édes Emma, drága Böbe – vázlatok, aktokHungarian, German, Russian, English István Szabó 1993(66th) We Never Die Sose halunk megHungarian, Hebrew Róbert Koltai 1994(67th) Woyzeck WoyzeckHungarian János Szász 1995(68th) The Outpost A részlegHungarian, Romanian Péter Gothár 1996(69th) Vaska Easoff Haggyállógva VászkaHungarian, Russian 1997(70th) The Witman Boys Witman fiúkHungarian János Szász 1998(71st) Gypsy Lore Romani kris – CigánytörvényHungarian, German Bence Gyöngyössy 1999(72nd) The Lord's Lantern in Budapest Nekem lámpást adott kezembe az Úr, PestenHungarian Miklós Jancsó 2000(73rd) Glamour Frigyes Gödrös 2001(74th) Abandoned Torzók Árpád Sopsits 2002(75th) HukkleHungarian, Czech György Pálfi 2003(76th) Forest RengetegHungarian Benedek Fliegauf 2004(77th) Kontroll Nimród Antal 2005:(78th) Fateless SorstalanságHungarian, German, English Lajos Koltai 2006(79th) White Palms Fehér tenyérHungarian, Russian, English Szabolcs Hajdu 2007(80th) TaxidermiaHungarian, English, Russian György Pálfi 2008(81st) Iska's Journey Iszka utazásaHungarian, Romanian Csaba Bollók 2009(82nd) Chameleon KaméleonHungarian Krisztina Goda 2010(83rd) Bibliothèque Pascal Bibliothèque PascalRomanian, English, Hungarian Szabolcs Hajdu 2011(84th) The Turin Horse A torinói lóHungarian, German Béla Tarr 2012(85th) Just the Wind Csak a szélHungarian, English, Carpathian Romani Benedek Fliegauf 2013(86th) The Notebook A nagy füzetHungarian, German János Szász 2014(87th) White God Fehér istenHungarian, English Kornél Mundruczó 2015(88th) Son of Saul Saul fiaHungarian, Yiddish, German, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Czech, Greek, Hebrew László Nemes 2016(89th) Kills on Wheels Tiszta szívvelHungarian Attila Till 2017(90th) On Body and Soul Testről és lélekről Ildikó Enyedi 2018(91st) Sunset NapszálltaHungarian, German László Nemes 2019(92nd) Those Who Remained Akik maradtakHungarian Barnabás Tóth 2020(93rd) Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time Felkészülés meghatározatlan ideig tartó együttlétreHungarian, English Lili Horvát 2021(94th) Post MortemHungarian, German Péter Bergendy 2022(95th) Blockade BlokádHungarian, German, Russian Ádám Tősér 2023(96th) Four Souls of Coyote Kojot négy lelkeHungarian Áron Gauder 2024(97th)Semmelweis Lajos Koltai 2025(98th) Orphan Árva László Nemes 2026(99th) Silent Friend Stille FreundinGerman, English, Cantonese Ildikó Enyedi
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films Cinema of Hungary
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page