The Academy Award for best international feature film known until this season as the best foreign-language film Oscar will go to one of 93 countries that have submitted entries this year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced . The previous high for submissions was 92 in 2017. A total of 87 films were submitted last year. Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” won the category this year, becoming the first Mexican entry to win the award.
High-profile entries include South Korea’s “Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho’s black comedy which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival; Spain’s “Pain and Glory” from Pedro Almodovar with Antonio Banderas starring as a film director; Japan’s “Weathering With You,” the country’s first animated entry since “Princess Mononoke”; Senegal’s “Atlantics” from director Mati Diop, winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes; France’s “Les Miserables”; the UK’s “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” from Chiwetel Ejiofor; and Norway’s “Out Stealing Horses,” starring Stellan Skarsgard. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines an international feature film as “a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes) produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.”
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A shortlist of 10 films — one more than in years past — will be announced Dec. 16. Nominations in all categories will be announced Jan. 13, 2020, and the 92nd Oscars are set to be held Feb. 9.
