The race for the Best International Feature Film Oscar is entering the phase where decisions by individual countries begin to shape the awards season. With national submissions due by October 1, the list is expanding to include choices from Israel, Romania, Chile, South Korea, and Ireland. It is a formality in appearance only: for many films, endorsement by their home country is the moment that turns strong festival buzz into a global campaign, delivering immediate effects on distribution, sales, and visibility for the talent involved.
The international feature award remains a unique category within the Academy system. Studios cannot submit entries independently; instead, each national film industry may designate just one title, through procedures handled by local committees. The result is a cultural and industrial filter before an artistic one: festival trajectories, directorial reputation, a film's appeal to voters, and, inevitably, the priorities of the selection panels all play a role.
Among the entries already announced, Romania is backing Fjord, written and directed by Cristian Mungiu. The film arrives with an extraordinary roster of honors: screened in competition at Cannes, it took home the Palme d'Or, as well as the FIPRESCI prize, the Ecumenical Jury award, the Prix de la Citoyenneté, and the François Chalais Prize. The lead cast features Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve. The Romanian choice brings one of the most immediately recognizable contenders into the race, bolstered by both the director's prestige and the validation earned on the Croisette.
Israel will be represented by Moshe Rosenthal's Tell Me Everything, which took Best Picture at the Ophir Awards. Set in the 1980s during the emergence of the HIV epidemic, it follows Boaz first as a child and later as an adult as he attempts to come to terms with his father's secret and the resulting rift in their relationship. The film, Rosenthal's second feature following Karaoke, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic competition. Yair Mazor plays the young Boaz, Ido Tako portrays his adult self, and Assi Cohen plays the father.
Festivals, awards, and a submission that is worth more than a label
Chile has selected The Meltdown (El deshielo) by Manuela Martelli. It is the director's new work following Chile, 1976 and ventures into post-Pinochet mystery drama territory, set at an Andean ski resort. The film premiered at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section. For a country like Chile, which in recent years has consolidated an international presence spanning auteur cinema and co-productions, the national selection is also a vehicle to keep active the circuit connecting festivals, buyers, and specialized audiences.
Ireland, meanwhile, is entrusting its submission to Aontas, an Irish-language heist thriller directed by Damian McCann. The decision came from the Irish Film & Television Academy, with a selection committee that included, among others, Lee Cronin, Lisa McGee, Brian Kirk, Kathryn Ferguson, and Aisha Tyler. The story unfolds in reverse following the tragic aftermath of a rural bank robbery: at its center are three unlikely thieves and a woman crushed by her past. The presence of an Irish-language film highlights an often decisive aspect of the category: the International Oscar is one of the few stages capable of granting global visibility even to works made in minority languages, provided they secure an adequate campaign and distribution.
The list of selections is not yet complete. France, for instance, has not announced its entry, while several countries have yet to formalize their submissions. This makes it premature to define a narrow group of frontrunners: campaigns in the final months of the year can shift the perception of a film, and the final composition of national entries will also determine the level of crowding around themes, geographic regions, and names already familiar to the Academy.
Ultimately, securing a selection does not automatically guarantee a nomination. Following submission, the road goes through the 15-film shortlist, expected on December 15. Those titles will be evaluated by Academy members across all branches who commit to watching them in their entirety. The nominations will then be announced on January 21. For the countries selected today, the challenge is therefore twofold: gaining the necessary attention to make the first cut and, should they make the shortlist, building sufficiently broad support among professionals with vastly different sensibilities and areas of expertise.
The new rule expands entry pathways
The season also introduces a regulatory change set to impact the dynamics of the category. A film that wins the top prize at one of the six festivals designated by the Academy — Cannes, Berlino, Venezia, Sundance, Busan and Toronto — can be entered into the international race even without the backing of its home country's national committee. It is a significant exemption because it reduces the exclusive power of local selections and grants major festivals a direct role in determining access to the competition.
In practice, the rule provides an alternative pathway for works that, despite achieving strong recognition on the international circuit, might otherwise be left out due to cultural politics, domestic industry dynamics, or simple internal competition. At the same time, it can increase pressure on committees: a film overlooked at home could still enter contention if it manages to claim the top prize at one of the eligible events.
However, the measure does not eliminate the competition's limitations. Festival recognition does not replace the need to organize screenings, build relationships with voters, and tailor messaging to the US market. Nor does it solve the issue of unequal visibility: titles backed by established international distributors often start with an advantage over productions with fewer promotional resources. The category remains a crucial showcase for non-English-language cinema, but also a playing field where symbolic capital must be translated into a concrete presence in Los Angeles.
Between now and October 1, the remaining national decisions will arrive, kicking off the less visible, yet often decisive, phase of the campaigns. Fjord, Tell Me Everything, The Meltdown and Aontas have already cleared the first necessary hurdle. To turn a submission into an Oscar result, they will now have to stand out in a competition that rewards not only the merit of an individual film, but its ability to remain at the center of the international conversation for months.
