Australia has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1996. 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.
As of 2026, Australia has been nominated once, for Tanna (2016).
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 Best 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.
The Australian submission is selected by a committee of Australian industry professionals convened and selected by Screen Australia. As a majority-English-speaking country, Australia infrequently sends non-English language productions to the category.
Samson & Delilah (2009), advanced to the December shortlists, but was not nominated. It follows a teenaged Aboriginal couple on the run, and was considered an early favorite after win the Caméra d'Or at Cannes.
Tanna (2016), directed by and Martin Butler, was the country first nomination. The film dramatizes the true story of members of the Indigenous Kastom tribe in Vanuatu.
Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Australia 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 Result 1996(69th) Floating Life 浮生 Cantonese, English, German 2001(74th) La Spagnola Spanish, English, Italian 2006(79th) Ten Canoes Yolngu Matha, Kunwinjku, English 2007(80th) The Home Song Stories意 Cantonese, English, Mandarin 2009(82nd) Samson and DelilahRunner-up: Van Diemen's Land, directed by Jonathan auf der Heide. Source: http://www.screendaily.com/awards/academy-awards/academy-awards-news/australia-selects-samson-for-foreign-language-oscar/5006233.article Walpiri, English 2012(85th) Lore German, English 2013(86th) The Rocketບັ້ງໄຟ Lao 2014(87th) Charlie's Country Yolngu Matha, English 2015(88th) Arrows of the Thunder Dragon Dzongkha Greg Sneddon 2016(89th) Tanna Southwest Tanna and Martin Butler 2017(90th) The Space Between Italian, English 2018(91st) Jirga جرګه Pashto, English 2019(92nd) Buoyancy Khmer, Thai, Isan 2021(94th) When Pomegranates Howl Pashto, Persian 2022(95th) You Won't Be AloneНема да бидеш сама Macedonian 2023(96th) Shayda Persian, English 2025(98th) The Wolves Always Come at Night Mongolian Gabriella Brady 2026(99th)First Light Filipino James J. Robinson
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films List of Australian Academy Award winners and nominees Cinema of Australia
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page