The Best International Film category at the Oscars has had an interesting history. Called the Best Foreign Language Film category until it received its current name in 2020, the first few awards were more honorary, with the category not being considered an official competitive category until the 29th Academy Awards, with Federico Fellini’s La Strada winning that year for Italy. As of August 2022, 62 different nations have received nominations in the category, with 28 of them emerging victorious. It’s important to note the category’s winners are awarded to the country, not the director of the movie in question. Today, let’s look at the countries that have had the most success in the Best International Film category at the Academy Awards.
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6 Sweden
Sandrew Film & Teater
Sweden is actually in a three-way tie with The Netherlands and the Soviet Union for wins. All three nations have three wins apiece, but Sweden wins the tiebreaker on number of nominations. They have 16 nominated films, compared to the Soviet Union’s nine and the Netherlands’ seven. All three of Sweden’s wins come courtesy of one filmmaker: the legendary Ingmar Bergman. His films actually pulled off back-to-back wins, with The Virgin Spring and Through A Glass Darkly winning for 1960 and 1961, respectively. Sweden would have to wait until 1983 for their most recent win, Fanny and Alexander. As of 2022, Sweden’s most recent nomination came for 2017’s The Square. Although the film didn’t win the Oscar, it did win another incredibly prestigious award: The Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
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5 Denmark
Distributed by Nordisk Film
With four wins, Denmark has a strong showing in the category. Their first nomination came in the first year the category was considered competitive, with the film Qivitoq receiving a nomination. Like Sweden, Denmark would also pull off wins in back-to-back years, winning in 1987 and 1988 for Babette’s Feast and Pelle The Conqueror. A third win would come for 2010’s In A Better World, and their fourth and most recent win would come with 2020’s Another Round, which also earned director Thomas Vinterberg an Oscar nomination for Best Director. Denmark would receive another nomination a year later for the animated documentary, Flee. That film became the first movie to be nominated in the Best International Film, Best Animated Film, and Best Documentary categories in the same year.
4 Spain
Distributed by Warner Sogefilms
Like Denmark, Spain also has four wins in the category. They rank higher due to more nominees. Spain has 20, as opposed to Denmark’s 14. Spain’s first nomination came for 1958’s La Venganza, losing to France’s Mon Oncle. Their first win came for 1982’s Begin the Beguine. That film’s director, José Luis Garci, has earned Spain four nominations for his films, the most of any Spanish director, and putting him one nomination ahead of legendary director, Pedro Almodovar. Only one Almodovar has won in this category: 1999’s All About My Mother. Almodovar would win the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for 2002’s Talk To Her. Almodovar also holds Spain’s most recent nomination, 2019’s Pain and Glory, which lost to South Korea’s Parasite. Spain’s other two wins would come from 1993’s Belle Epoque and 2004’s The Sea Inside, starring Javier Bardem.
3 Japan
Distributed by Daiei Film
With five wins, three of them considered honorary, Japan earns the bronze medal for most successful nation in the Best International Feature Film category. They are also the most successful non-European nation in the category. Their first honorary win came for Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Rashomon. Kurosawa and Noboru Nakamura are the only Japanese directors to have achieved multiple nominations for their films, with two apiece. One of Kurosawa’s films, Dersu Uzala, would win in this category for the Soviet Union instead of Japan. Like Denmark, Japan also received a nomination the first year the category was considered competitive, with the incredible Harp of Burma being their nominee. The 1950s were incredibly successful for Japan, with all three of their honorary wins coming in that decade. With 17 nominations, the fourth most of any nation, it’s downright shocking how long Japan had to wait for their first competitive win. It wouldn’t come until 2008, when Departures won the award. Japan would receive their second competitive win for 2021’s Drive My Car.
2 France
Distributed by Warner Bros.
France earns the runner-up position for most successful nation in this category and the gap between second and third place Japan is enormous. Japan, as mentioned earlier, has five wins. France has 12, two of which are considered honorary, with a special award going to 1947’s Monsieur Vincent. They also have the most nominated films of any nation, with a whopping 40. France wouldn’t have to wait long for their first competitive wins. They would achieve back-to-back victories in 1958 and 1959 for Mon Oncle and Black Orpheus. Several legendary French films have received nominations, with The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Au Revoir Les Enfants, and Amelie being a few of the more notable titles. Recent history, however, has not been too kind to France. Their last win came for 1992’s Indochine. Their most recent nomination came for 2019’s Les Misérables. While France has no trouble getting nominated (they received six nominations in the 2000s alone), it is a bit of a surprise they haven’t won in so long. Still, unless Japan starts winning the category every year for the next decade, France’s second place standing in the category seems quite secure.
1 Italy
Titanus
With 14 wins, Italy is the most successful nation in the Best International Feature category. Of those 14, two are considered honorary (1946’s Shoe-Shine and 1948’s The Bicycle Thief) and one of them (1949’s The Walls of Malapaga) is considered a shared win with France. With 32 nominated films, Italy is in second place with nominees, behind only France. Italy would not only win the first year the category was considered competitive, but the second as well, again with a Federico Fellini film (Nights of Cabiria). In fact, Fellini has the best record amongst Italian submissions. Every single time one of his films was nominated, it won, giving Italy four of its 14 wins. Vittorio De Sica is the only other Italian director whose films won multiple times, winning competitively for Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. Other legendary Italian winners include 1970’s Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion and 1988’s Cinema Paradiso, with 1966’s The Battle of Algiers being a nominee. Italy’s most recent win came in 2013, for Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty. A Sorrentino film also holds Italy’s most recent nomination, with 2021’s The Hand of God.
