Croatia has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1992. 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. It 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 introduced for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since. Croatia unsuccessfully tried to submit a film in 1991 while the country was in the process of achieving international recognition.
As of 2026, Croatia has submitted thirty-six films, but none of them have been nominated.
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 five nominees for the award.
Prior to independence, Croatian actors and filmmakers participated in the Yugoslav film industry and several films made by Croatian filmmakers or produced by Croatian-based film studios were submitted for Oscar consideration representing Yugoslavia. Of these films, two received a nomination: The Road a Year Long (1958), directed by Giuseppe De Santis (co-produced by Croatian film companies Croatia Film and Jadran Film), and The Ninth Circle (1960), directed by France Štiglic (produced by Jadran Film).
According to Academy rules, the selection of each country's official submission has to be made by "one organization, jury or committee that should include artists and/or craftspeople from the field of motion pictures". In Croatia's case the selection committee and procedure are organized by the Film Artists' Association of Croatia (Hrvatsko društvo filmskih djelatnika or HDFD). Film producers and directors can submit a film for consideration to HDFD, which verifies the completeness of the application and compliance with Academy rules. According to the latest revision of the HDFD criteria in 2007, these include that the film must have had its cinema release between 1 October and 30 September in the preceding year and that the application enclosed must contain a written statement confirming that all financial obligations to performers and craftspeople involved with the film's production have been fulfilled. A 17-member committee composed of HDFD members then proceeds to vote for nominated films in a secret ballot.
Since independence, five Croatian filmmakers have had multiple films submitted to the Academy for review. Branko Schmidt, Arsen Anton Ostojić and Zrinko Ogresta had three of their films selected, and two other filmmakers had two films submitted: Vinko Brešan and Dalibor Matanić.
Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Croatia for review by the Academy by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Language(s) Director(s) Result 1991(64th)Fragments: Chronicle of a Vanishing Krhotine - Kronika jednog nestajanja Croatian Zrinko Ogresta 1992(65th) Story from Croatia Priča iz Hrvatske 1993(66th) Countess Dora Kontesa DoraSerbo-Croatian, Croatian 1994(67th) Vukovar: The Way Home Vukovar se vraća kućiSerbian, Croatian 1995(68th) Washed Out IspraniCroatian 1996(69th) Nausikaya NausikajaSerbo-Croatian 1997(70th) Lapitch the Little Shoemaker Čudnovate zgode šegrta HlapićaCroatian, English, German 1998(71st) Transatlantic TransatlantikCroatian 1999(72nd) Red Dust Crvena prašina 2000(73rd) Marshal Tito's Spirit Maršal 2001(74th) Queen of the Night Kraljica noći 2002(75th) Fine Dead Girls Fine mrtve djevojke 2003(76th) Witnesses Svjedoci 2004(77th) Long Dark Night Duga mračna noc 2005(78th) A Wonderful Night in Split Ta divna splitska noćCroatian, Serbian, English 2006(79th) Libertas LibertasCroatian, Venetian, Italian 2007(80th) ArminBosnian, Croatian, German, English 2008(81st) No One's Son Ničiji SinCroatian 2009(82nd) Donkey Kenjac 2010(83rd) The Blacks Crnci Goran Dević and Zvonimir Jurić 2011(84th) 72 Days Sedamdeset i dva danaCroatian, Serbian 2012(85th) Vegetarian Cannibal Ljudožder vegetarijanacCroatian 2013(86th) Halima's Path Halimin putBosnian 2014(87th) Cowboys KaubojiCroatian Tomislav Mršić 2015(88th) The High Sun Zvizdan 2016(89th) On the Other Side S one strane 2017(90th) Quit Staring at My Plate Ne gledaj mi u pijat 2018(91st) The Eighth Commissioner Osmi povjerenik 2019(92nd) Mali 2020(93rd) Extracurricular Dopunska nastava Ivan-Goran Vitez 2021(94th) Tereza37 2022(95th) Safe Place Sigurno mjesto Juraj Lerotić 2023(96th) Tragovi Dubravka Turić 2024(97th) Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day Lijepa večer, lijep dan Ivona Juka 2025(98th) Fiume o morte! Fiuman, Croatian, Italian Igor Bezinović 2026(99th) God Will Not Help Bog neće pomoći Croatian, Spanish Hana Jušić
See also List of Yugoslav submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films Cinema of Croatia
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database IMDb Academy Awards Page Film Artists' Association of Croatia official website