The race for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film is taking shape as countries around the world finalize their official submissions ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline. Spain, Indonesia, Hungary, Nepal and Israel are among the latest nations to join the growing list of contenders, while Poland has selected Paweł Pawlikowski's «Fatherland» as its entry.
Poland's selection committee chose «Fatherland», directed and co-written by Pawlikowski, to represent the country in the international feature category. The film premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was well received and earned Pawlikowski a Best Director award shared with another filmmaker. Mubi will handle its release in the United States. Pawlikowski previously won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film with «Ida» in 2015, making his return to the race a notable development in this year's campaign.
The submissions from Spain, Indonesia, Hungary, Nepal and Israel add to a field that is steadily expanding as national selection committees complete their deliberations. Each country's choice reflects its own film industry's priorities and the titles that have resonated most strongly on the festival circuit and with domestic audiences over the past year.
Israel's entry arrives amid ongoing international attention to the country's cinema, where cultural and political questions frequently intersect. The Israeli film selected for the race is a documentary feature that has been described as urgent in its subject matter, continuing a pattern in which Israeli filmmakers engage directly with the country's social and political realities.
The Academy's process for the international feature category involves several stages. After the Oct. 1 submission deadline, the Academy will review all entries and announce a shortlist of 15 international films on Dec. 15. Academy members from all branches who commit to watching all 15 shortlisted films will then vote to determine the final nominees. Oscar nominations will be revealed at a later date, followed by the ceremony itself.
The shortlist stage represents a critical hurdle for submitting countries, as it narrows a global field to a manageable group for voters. The requirement that participating Academy members view every shortlisted film is intended to ensure that the international category is judged on a broad and informed basis rather than on campaign visibility alone.
For countries like Nepal and Indonesia, inclusion in the official submission list offers a chance to raise the international profile of their film industries. Hungary, which has a long and distinguished Oscar history in the category, returns with a title chosen by its national committee. Spain, a perennial presence in the race, adds another entry to its extensive record of submissions.
The international feature race has increasingly become a focal point of the awards season, with festival premieres and critical acclaim often shaping which films emerge as frontrunners. Pawlikowski's Cannes recognition and his prior Oscar success give «Fatherland» an early spotlight, while the breadth of submissions from across Europe, Asia and the Middle East ensures that the competition will remain unpredictable in the months ahead.
As more countries announce their picks in the coming weeks, the full shape of the race will become clearer. For now, the additions of Spain, Indonesia, Hungary, Nepal and Israel, alongside Poland's high-profile selection, signal that the 2027 international feature contest is already well underway.