Academy Award international feature film submissions underway

Campaigns for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film are underway, with a final submission deadline of October 1. The Academy will reveal a shortlist of 15 films on December 15, followed by official nominations on January 21.

Notable entries include Romania’s ‘Fjord’, directed by Cristian Mungiu, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Ireland has selected the Irish-language heist thriller ‘Aontas’, directed by Damian McCann, via the Irish Film & TV Academy. Other mentioned submissions include Chile’s ‘The Meltdown’ and Germany’s ‘Everytime’.

A new Academy rule now permits any film that wins the top prize at one of six major festivals—Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, Busan, or Toronto—to enter the international feature race without requiring the backing of a national committee.