The United Kingdom has submitted films for consideration for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film irregularly since 1991. The award is handed out annually by the 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 UK has one of the world's most visible film industries and British films, as well as British actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes crew members have been prominently featured amongst Academy nominees and winners since the 1930s. Most British features are not eligible for the Best International Feature Film award, because they are produced in English. The British nominee is selected by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), following the 50% non-English dialogue rule.

As of 2026, the United Kingdom has been nominated three times, winning once for The Zone of Interest (2023).

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 country first nominated films were: Hedd Wyn (1993), directed by , and Solomon & Gaenor (1999), directed by .

Many of the submitted films were made by directors from or based in Wales, and were partially or completely filmed in the Welsh language. Other films have been in languages spoken in the UK's ethnic minority communities. As yet, there have been no submissions in Scots, Angloromani, Cornish or Scottish Gaelic, and one film, Branwen (1995), that was partially in Irish. The 2007 film Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle (Scottish Gaelic) was promoted by campaigners but was not submitted to the Academy.

The Warrior (2002), mainly in Hindi, was controversially disqualified by AMPAS because the film did not take place in, nor was it filmed in a language indigenous to, the United Kingdom. The rule was changed in 2005, and the first film to benefit was a Hindi-language film from Canada.

In 2007, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) invited British filmmakers to submit films for consideration to represent the UK in the category. Two films responded to the call: Calon Gaeth, in Welsh, and Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle, one of the first films made in Scots Gaelic. For unknown reasons, the BAFTA declined to submit either film. The ensuing controversy led to widespread coverage in the international press and producer Christopher Young resigning his membership of BAFTA. The matter was also raised in the Scottish Parliament and BAFTA was asked to reconsider its decision, to no avail.

The Zone of Interest (2023), directed by Jonathan Glazer, was the first British film to win in the category, and also won Best Sound, and was nominated for the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Santosh (2024) advanced to the December shortlist, but was not nominated.

Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by the United Kingdom 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(s) Result 1991(64th) Lost in Siberia Russian, English 1993(66th) Hedd Wyn Welsh 1995(68th) Branwen Welsh, Irish, English 1998(71st) Cameleon Welsh 1999(72nd) Solomon & GaenorSolomon a Gaenor Welsh, English 2001(74th) Do Not Go GentleOed Yr Addewid 2002(75th) Eldra Tim Lyn 2008(81st) Hope Eternal Bemba, English, Welsh, French, Afrikaans, Swahili 2009(82nd) Afghan Star Dari, Pashto, English 2011(84th) Patagonia Welsh, Spanish 2013(86th) Metro Manila Filipino 2014(87th) Little HappinessUzun Yol Turkish Nihat Seven 2015(88th) Under Milk WoodDan y Wenallt Welsh Kevin Allen 2016(89th) Under the Shadowزیر سایه‎ Persian Babak Anvari 2017(90th) My Pure Land Urdu Sarmad Masud 2018(91st) I Am Not a Witch English, Bemba Rungano Nyoni 2019(92nd) The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind English, Chichewa Chiwetel Ejiofor 2021(94th) Dying to DivorceÖlümüne Boşanmak Turkish, English Chloe Fairweather 2022(95th) Winnersبرنده‌ها Persian 2023(96th) The Zone of Interest German, Polish, Yiddish 2024(97th) Santosh Hindi 2025(98th) My Father's Shadow Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin, English Akinola Davies Jr.

Notes

See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films Cinema of the United Kingdom Independent cinema in the United Kingdom List of Irish submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain

Notes

References

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