Norway has submitted films in the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars since 1957. They only submitted two films in their first twenty years, but they became a regular fixture in the competition in 1980, failing to submit a film only once, in 1983. The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film 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 created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since.
As of 2026, Norway has been nominated seven times, winning once for Sentimental Value (2025).
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.
Norway was nominated for the first time for Nine Lives (1957), directed by Jan Baalsrud. Thirty years later, The Pathfinder (1987), directed by Nils Gaup, was the country second nomination.
Joachim Trier had four films submitted and was nominated twice, for The Worst Person in the World (2021), which was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay; and Sentimental Value (2025), which received nine nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
The King's Choice (2016), Hope (2019), and Armand (2024), advanced to the December shortlists, but were not nominated.
Most of the films submitted are primary in Norwegian. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Norway for review by the academy for the award by the year of the submission and the respective Academy Award ceremony. Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Director Result 1957(30th) Nine Lives Ni Liv 1962(35th) Cold Tracks Kalde spor 1980(53rd) Life and Death Liv og død and 1981(54th) Julia Julia 1982(55th) Victoria L Leve sitt liv 1984(57th) The Chieftain Høvdingen Terje Kristiansen 1985(58th) Wives – Ten Years After Hustruer – ti år etter 1986(59th) Hard Asphalt Hard asfalt 1987(60th) The Pathfinder Ofelaš 1988(61st) The Ice Palace Is-slottet 1989(62nd) A Handful of Time En håndfull tid 1990(63rd) Herman 1991(64th) Frida – Straight from the Heart Frida – med hjertet i hånden 1992(65th) The Warrior's Heart Krigerens hjerte 1993(66th) The Telegraphist Telegrafisten 1994(67th) Cross My Heart and Hope to Die Ti kniver i hjertet 1995(68th) Kristin Lavransdatter Kristin Lavransdatter 1996(69th) The Other Side of Sunday Søndagsengler 1997(70th) Junk Mail Budbringeren 1998(71st) Only Clouds Move the Stars Bare skyer beveger stjernene 1999(72nd) The Prompter Suffløsen Hilde Heier 2000(73rd) Odd Little Man Da jeg traff Jesus... med sprettert Stein Leikanger 2001(74th) Elling 2002(75th) Hold My Heart Tyven, tyven 2003(76th) Kitchen Stories Salmer fra kjøkkenet 2004(77th) Hawaii, Oslo 2005:(78th) Kissed by Winter Vinterkyss 2006(79th) Reprise 2007(80th) Gone with the Woman Tatt av Kvinnen 2008(81st) O' Horten 2009(82nd) Max Manus and Espen Sandberg 2010(83rd) Angel Engelen 2011(84th) Happy, Happy Sykt lykkelig 2012(85th) Kon-Tiki Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg 2013(86th) I Am Yours Jeg er din Iram Haq 2014(87th) 1001 Grams 1001 Gram Bent Hamer 2015(88th) The Wave Bølgen Roar Uthaug 2016(89th) The King's Choice Kongens Nei Erik Poppe 2017(90th) Thelma Joachim Trier 2018(91st) What Will People Say Hva vil folk si Iram Haq 2019(92nd) Out Stealing Horses Ut og stjæle hester Hans Petter Moland 2020(93rd) Hope Håp Maria Sødahl 2021(94th) The Worst Person in the World Verdens verste menneske Joachim Trier 2022(95th) War Sailor Krigsseileren Gunnar Vikene 2023(96th) Songs of Earth Fedrelandet Margreth Olin 2024(97th) Armand Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel 2025(98th) Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi Joachim Trier 2026(99th)Growth of the Soil''' | Markens Grøde'' Hans Petter Moland
Shortlisted films Each year since 2010, the Norwegian Oscar Committee has announced a three-film shortlist prior to announcing the official Norwegian Oscar candidate. The following films were shortlisted by Norway but not selected as the final candidate: YearFilm2010Limbo · A Somewhat Gentle Man2011Oslo, 31 August · Sons of Norway2012I Belong · The Orheim Company2013It's Only Make Believe · Pioneer2014Blind · Letter to the King2015Homesick · Returning Home2016Pyromaniac · Welcome to Norway2017Hunting Flies · Tree Feller2018Blind Spot · Utøya: July 222019Beware of Children · Harajuku2020Disco · Self-Portrait2021Betrayed · Ninjababy2022Everybody Hates Johan · Sick of Myself2023A Happy Day · Let the River Flow2024Quisling: The Final Days · Sex2025Dreams (Sex Love) · Facing War2026 Low Expectations · Trango
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films Cinema of Norway
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page