Kenya submitted a film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film for the first time in 2012. 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. 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, Kenya has submitted ten films, but none of them were nominated.
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.
All the films submitted were primary in Swahili. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Kenya 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 2012(85th) Nairobi Half Life Swahili David Tosh Gitonga 2017(90th) Kati Kati Swahili, English 2018(91st) Supa Modo Swahili 2019(92nd) Subira Ravneet Sippy Chadha 2020(93rd) The Letter Barua Maia Lekow, Chris King 2021(94th) Mission to Rescue Gilbert Lukalia 2022(95th) TeraStorm Swahili, English Andrew Kaggia 2023(96th)Mvera Swahili Daudi Anguka 2024(97th) Nawi Swahili, English Vallentine Chelluget, Apuu Mourine, Kevin Schmutzler and Toby Schmutzler 2026(99th)One Woman One Bra Maasai, Swahili, English Vincho Nchogu
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page