Colombia has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1980. 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. The Colombian submission is decided annually by the Consejo Nacional de Cinematografía, a branch of the Colombian Ministry of Culture.
As of 2026, Colombia has been nominated once, for Embrace of the Serpent (2015).
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.
In 2004, Colombia announced that it had selected Maria Full of Grace, and the film was touted as an early front-runner to win the award. However, the film was disqualified by AMPAS, which argued that the film did not qualify as a majority Colombian production because it was written and directed by an American filmmaker Joshua Marston. After an unsuccessful appeal, Colombia was allowed to send El Rey as a replacement. Although it was disqualified, however, Catalina Sandino Moreno was eventually nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and holds the title as the only Colombian nominated to an acting category.
Ciro Guerra is currently the filmmaker with most submissions, with four films selected. Followed by filmmakers Sergio Cabrera, Carlos Moreno and Jorge Alí Triana, which each had their films selected two times. Iranian filmmaker Barbet Schroeder was the first non-Colombian filmmaker selected to represent the country, for Our Lady of the Assassins (2001); twenty years later, Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul was also selected to represent the country, for Memoria (2021); both films were set in Colombia.
Guerra also directed the country only nominated film, Embrace of the Serpent (2015). Birds of Passage (2018) advanced to the December shortlists, but it was not nominated.
Most of the Colombian submissions were filmed primarily in Spanish, with the exception of Embrace of the Serpent (2015) and Birds of Passage (2018), both mainly filmed in South American native languages. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Colombia for review by the for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Year(Ceremony) English title Original title Language(s) Director Result 1980(53rd) The Latin Immigrant El inmigrante latinoSpanish 1984(57th) A Man of Principle Cóndores no entierran todos los días 1986(59th) A Time to Die Tiempo de morir 1991(64th) Confessing to Laura Confesión a Laura Jaime Osorio Gómez 1994(67th) The Strategy of the Snail La estrategia del caracol 1996(69th) Oedipus Mayor Edipo Alcalde 1997(70th) The Debt La deuda Manuel José Álvarez and Nicolás Buenaventura 1998(71st) The Rose Seller La vendedora de rosas 1999(72nd) Time Out Golpe de estadio 2001(74th) Our Lady of the Assassins La virgen de los sicarios 2002(75th) The Invisible Children Los niños invisibles 2003(76th) La Primera Noche Luis Alberto Restrepo 2004(77th) El Rey Antonio Dorado 2005(78th) Wandering Shadows La sombra del caminante 2006(79th) A Ton of Luck Soñar no cuesta nada Rodrigo Triana 2007(80th) Satanás Andrés Baiz 2008(81st) Dog Eat Dog Perro come perro Carlos Moreno 2009(82nd) The Wind Journeys Los viajes del vientoSpanish, Palenquero, Wayuunaiki, Ikun 2010(83rd) Crab Trap El vuelco del cangrejoSpanish Oscar Ruiz Navia 2011(84th) The Colors of the Mountain Los colores de la montaña Carlos César Arbeláez 2012(85th) The Snitch Cartel El Cartel de los Sapos Carlos Moreno 2013(86th) La Playa DC 2014(87th) Mateo María Gamboa 2015(88th) Embrace of the Serpent El abrazo de la serpienteCubeo, Ocaina, German, Huitoto, Bora, Andoque, Yucuna, Muinane, Spanish, Ticuna, Wanano, Catalan, Portuguese, Latin, English 2016(89th) Alias MariaSpanish José Luis Rugeles Gracia 2017(90th) Guilty Men Pariente Iván Gaona 2018(91st) Birds of Passage Pájaros de verano Wayuu, Spanish, English, Wiwa Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra 2019(92nd) Monos Spanish, English Alejandro Landes 2020(93rd) Forgotten We'll Be El olvido que seremos Spanish Fernando Trueba 2021(94th) Memoria Spanish, English Apichatpong Weerasethakul 2022(95th) The Kings of the WorldLos reyes del mundoSpanish Laura Mora Ortega 2023(96th) Un Varón Fabián Hernández Alvarado 2024(97th) La Suprema Felipe Holguin 2025(98th) A Poet Un poeta Simón Mesa Soto 2026(99th)Rains Over BabelLlueve sobre BabelGala del Sol
Shortlisted films Since 2014, Colombia has announced a list of finalists or eligible films that varied in number over the years (from 3 to 16 films) before announcing their official Oscar nominee, except in the year 2022 where an official list was not announced. The following films have been shortlisted by the Colombian Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences: YearFilm2014Dust on the Tongue · Los hongos2015Ella · Gente de bien · Land and Shade2016Anna · Dark Beast · The Seed of Silence2017The Animal's Wife · The Dragon Defense · X5002018Killing Jesus · Virus Tropical · We Are the Heat2019Days of the Whale · Litigante · El Piedra2020Accidental Blessing · After Norma · Disobedience or How to Train Fighting Roosters · La fortaleza · Jaguar: voz de un territorio · Jinetes del Paraíso · Luz2021Ángel de mi vida · Noise · Suspensión · Valley of Souls2023Alis · Anhell69 · The Border · I'm Cris from Tierra Bomba · Itzia, Tango & Cacao · Línea de tiempo · Nubes grises soplan sobre el campo verde · The Other Shape · The Other Son · Pepe Cáceres · Petit Mal · Simona Amaya, vivir o morir por la libertad · Somos ecos · Ultraviolence2025Adiós al amigo · Between Sea and Land · Choibá: The Dance of the Humpback Whale · En lo profundo · Estimados señores · Irredentos · Matrioshka · Mi bestia · Seed of the Desert · Soul of the Desert · Uno: entre el oro y la muerte
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films Cinema of Colombia List of Colombian films
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page