The Oscar for Best International Film is one of the most difficult to achieve. Among other reasons, because the filter for a film to be nominated begins in its own country, where – until now – it needed to be chosen by a national committee as a representative for the Academy Award.
But Starting this year, non-English speaking films will have another chance: to win a renowned international competition (Berlin, Busan, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto or Venice).
This Friday, the Board of Governors of the Film Academy announced changes to the selection process for films that are candidates for the Oscars.
Among others, in the Best International Film categoryin addition to a film being sent as an official selection by a country or region through the Selection Committees of each country, now A non-English language film may also be a candidate if it has won a qualifying award at one of these international festivals.:
– Berlin International Film Pageant (Golden Bear for Best Film).
– Busan International Film Pageant (Busan Award – Best Film).
– Cannes Film Pageant (Palm d’Or).
– Sundance Film Pageant (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize).
– Toronto International Film Pageant (Platform Award).
– Venice International Film Pageant (Golden Lion).
Besides, It will be the title of the film that will be credited as nominatedinstead of the country or region -as was done until now-. The award will be accepted by the director on behalf of the film’s creative team. The director’s name will appear on the statuette’s plate after the title of the film and, if applicable, the country or region.
Human actors and scriptwriters, not AI
In the performance categoriesactors may be nominated for multiple performances within the same category if those performances rank among the top five, which is in line with achievements in other award categories.
Furthermore, given the emergence of artificial intelligence, Only roles credited in the film’s legal credits and that can be proven to have been played by humans with their consent will be considered eligible..
Something similar will be taken into account in the Screenplay categories, since The new rules state that scripts must be human-authored to be eligible.
More changes to the Oscars rules
In the Casting categorythe number of statuettes awarded will increase from a maximum of two to a maximum of three.
In the Cinematography categorythe preliminary round of voting will produce a shortlist of 20 films instead of 10-20.
In the Makeup and Hairstyling categorymembers of this branch must attend at least one of the two final meetings (roundtables) to be eligible to vote in the preliminary round.
In the Fashioned Song Categorythe rules clarify a song’s eligibility based on its placement in the end credits. For songs presented as the first new theme song after the end credits roll, the video clip must include the last 15 seconds of the movie before the credits roll.
In the Visual Effects category, All Academy members must view the three-minute “before and after” reels of the Visual Effects Bake-Off to be eligible to vote in the final round.
Registration deadlines and other key dates
Thursday, August 13, 2026: First registration deadline for the Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Film and True Action Short Film categories.
Thursday, September 17, 2026: First submission deadline for the Regular Submission, Animated Feature, Best Feature Film categories, and the Representation and Inclusion Standards (RAISE) form.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026: Submission deadline for Best International Film.
Thursday, October 8, 2026: Final registration deadline for the Animated Short Film, Documentary Short Film, and True Action Short Film categories.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026: Registration deadline for Music (Fashioned Song).
Thursday, October 15, 2026: Final registration deadline for Documentary Feature Film.
Wednesday, November 4, 2026: Registration deadline for Music (Fashioned Soundtrack)
Thursday, November 12, 2026: Final entry deadline for the Regular Entry, Animated Feature, Best Feature and Representation and Inclusion Standards (RAISE) categories.
January 8–10, 2027: Casting, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound and Visual Effects voting events (bake-offs).
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