Romania has been submitting films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1966. The Best Foreign Film 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, Romania was nominated only once, for Collective (2020).

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.

The Romanian nominee is selected each year by a jury selected by the National Center for Cinematography (Centrul Național al Cinematografiei – CNC).

Sergiu Nicolaescu is the filmmaker with most official submissions, representing the country five times. Followed by Radu Jude with four submissions.

Among Romania's more notable submissions include: Carnival Scenes, which was produced in 1981 and banned by Romania's Communist regime, and eventually released in 1989 after the Romanian Revolution; and The Rest Is Silence (2008), the most expensive film in Romanian history.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), the first Romanian film to win the Palme d'Or, was not nominated, stirring controversy over critically acclaimed productions being snubbed for political reasons. The controversy caused Academy members to plead for reforms, implementing the creation of a jury to the category first phase voting, which acted from 2008 to 2020.

Even though 21st century Romanian cinema is marked for the popularity of the Romanian New Wave in numerous international film festivals, gaining top prizes at Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Venice and Karlovy Vary, as of 2026, no filmmaker of the movement has been nominated despite multiple submissions, including: Cristi Puiu, Cristian Mungiu, Corneliu Porumboiu, Florin Șerban, Călin Peter Netzer, Radu Jude, and Emanuel Pârvu.

The country first and only nomination is the documentary Collective (2020), directed by Alexander Nanau, which was also nominated for Best Documentary Feature.

Beyond the Hills (2012) advanced to the December shortlists, but it was not nominated.

Most of the films submitted are primary in Romanian. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Romania for review by the Academy for the award since 1966, by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony. Romania did not enter the competition every year, including a six-year absence from 1977 to 1982.

Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Language(s) Director(s) Result 1966(39th) The Uprising RăscoalaRomanian 1968(41st) The Column Columna 1969(42nd) A Woman for a Season Răutăciosul adolescent 1971(44th) The Last Crusade Mihai Viteazul 1973(46th) Veronica 1976(49th) The Doom Osânda 1983(56th) Return from Hell Întoarcerea din iad Nicolae Mărgineanu 1984(57th) Glissando 1985(58th) Ciuleandra 1986(59th) The Last Assault Noi, cei din linia întîi 1989(62nd) Those Who Pay With Their Lives Cei care plătesc cu viața 1990(63rd) Carnival ScenesThe film was on AMPAS' list of accepted submissions in 1990, but was not on an updated list in 2007. It thus seems possible the film was not screened. De ce trag clopotele, Mitică? 1992(65th) Luxury Hotel Hotel de lux 1993(66th) The Conjugal Bed Patul conjugal 1994(67th) Pepe & Fifi Pepe și Fifi 1996(69th) State of Things Stare de fapt 1998(71st) Next Stop Paradise Terminus Paradis 1999(72nd) The Famous Paparazzo Faimosul paparazzo Nicolae Mărgineanu 2002(75th) Philanthropy Filantropica 2004(77th) Orient Express Orient Express 2005(78th) The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Moartea domnului Lăzărescu 2006(79th) The Way I Spent the End of the World Cum mi-am petrecut sfârșitul lumii 2007(80th) 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 4 luni, 3 săptămâni și 2 zile 2008(81st) The Rest Is Silence Restul e tăcereRomanian, French 2009(82nd) Police, Adjective Polițist, adj.Romanian 2010(83rd) If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle Eu când vreau să fluier, fluier 2011(84th) MorgenRomanian, Hungarian, Turkish Marian Crișan 2012(85th) Beyond the Hills După dealuriRomanian 2013(86th) Child's Pose Poziția Copilului 2014(87th) The Japanese Dog Câinele japonezRomanian, Japanese Tudor Cristian Jurgiu 2015(88th) Aferim!Romanian, Vlax Romani, Turkish 2016(89th) SieranevadaRomanian 2017(90th) FixeurRomanian, French 2018(91st) I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbariRomanian, French, Spanish, English, German 2019(92nd) The Whistlers La GomeraRomanian, English, Silbo Gomero, Spanish 2020(93rd) Collective ColectivRomanian Alexander Nanau 2021(94th) Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamucRomanian, English Radu Jude 2022(95th)ImaculatRomanian Monica Stan and George Chiper 2023(96th) Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World Nu aștepta prea mult de la sfârșitul lumiiRomanian, English, German, Hungarian, Italian Radu Jude 2024(97th) Three Kilometres to the End of the World Trei kilometri pâna la capatul lumiiRomanian Emanuel Pârvu 2025(98th) Traffic Jaful SecoluluiRomanian, Dutch, English Teodora Mihai 2026(99th) FjordNorwegian, English, Romanian, Swedish Cristian Mungiu

Shortlisted Films YearFilm2022Blue Moon · Metronom · Miracle · R.M.N. · The Wishing Tree: Childhood Memories

See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films List of Romanian films Cinema of Romania

Notes

References

External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page