Poland has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1963. The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. It was not created until the 1956 Academy Awards, in which a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since.
As of 2026, Poland has been nominated thirteen times, winning once for Ida (2015).
Submissions The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1956. The International Feature Film Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award.Poland first nomination was Knife in the Water (1963), directed by Roman Polanski, which is also the director's only Polish-language film, he went to win an Academy Award for Best Director four decades later for The Pianist (2002).
Andrzej Wajda represented Poland for a record nine times, and four of his films received nominations (The Promised Land, The Maids of Wilko, Man of Iron and Katyń), also a record. While Polish filmmaker legend Jerzy Skolimowski received his first nomination in 2022, for the comedy-drama EO.
Agnieszka Holland was the first woman to be nominated representing Poland, for In Darkness (2011).
Paweł Pawlikowski was nominated twice, winning in 2013, alongside a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director for Cold War (2019).
Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Poland for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Director(s) Result 1963(36th) Knife in the Water Nóż w wodzie 1964(37th) Passenger Pasażerka Andrzej Munk and Witold Lesiewicz 1966(39th) Pharaoh Faraon 1968(41st) Matthew's Days Żywot Mateusza 1969(42nd) Everything for Sale Wszystko na sprzedaż 1970(43rd) The Taste of Black Earth Sól ziemi czarnej 1971(44th) Family Life Życie rodzinne 1972(45th) Pearl in the Crown Perła w koronie 1973(46th) Copernicus Kopernik Ewa Petelska and Czesław Petelski 1974(47th) The Deluge Potop 1975(48th) The Promised Land Ziemia Obiecana 1976(49th) Nights and Days Noce i dnie 1977(50th) Camouflage Barwy ochronne 1978(51st) Death of a President Śmierć prezydenta 1979(52nd) The Maids of Wilko Panny z Wilka 1980(53rd) Olympics 40 Olimpiada 40 1981(54th) Man of Iron Człowiek z żelaza 1985(58th) Yesterday 1986(59th) Axiliad Siekierezada 1987(60th) Hero of the Year Bohater roku 1988(61st) A Short Film About Love Krótki film o miłości 1989(62nd) Kornblumenblau Kornblumenblau Leszek Wosiewicz 1990(63rd) Korczak Korczak 1991(64th) The Double Life of Véronique Podwójne życie Weroniki 1992(65th) All That Really Matters Wszystko, co najważniejsze 1993(66th) Squadron Szwadron 1994(67th) Three Colours: White Trzy kolory. Biały 1995(68th) Crows Wrony 1996(69th) At Full Gallop Cwał 1997(70th) Love Stories Historie miłosne 1999(72nd) Pan Tadeusz Pan Tadeusz 2000(73rd) Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease Życie jako śmiertelna choroba przenoszona drogą płciową 2001(74th) Quo Vadis 2002(75th) Edi 2003(76th) Pornografia Jan Jakub Kolski 2004(77th) The Welts Pręgi 2005(78th) The Collector Komornik 2006(79th) Retrieval Z odzysku 2007(80th) Katyń 2008(81st) Tricks Sztuczki 2009(82nd) Reverse Rewers 2010(83rd) All That I Love Wszystko, co kocham 2011(84th) In Darkness W ciemności 2012(85th) 80 Million 80 milionów 2013(86th) Walesa: Man of Hope Wałęsa. Człowiek z nadziei 2014(87th) Ida 2015(88th) 11 Minutes 11 minut 2016(89th) Afterimage Powidoki 2017(90th) Spoor Pokot 2018(91st) Cold War Zimna wojna 2019(92nd) Corpus Christi Boże Ciało 2020(93rd) Never Gonna Snow Again Śniegu już nigdy nie będzie Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert 2021(94th) Leave No Traces Żeby nie było śladów Jan P. Matuszyński 2022(95th) EO Io Jerzy Skolimowski 2023(96th) The Peasants Chłopi DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman 2024(97th) Under the Volcano Pod wulkanem Damian Kocur 2025(98th) Franz Agnieszka Holland 2026(99th)FatherlandOjczyznaPaweł Pawlikowski
Shortlisted Films Since 2020, Poland has announced a list of finalists or eligible films that varied in number over the years (from 5 to 10 films) before announcing their official Oscar nominee. The following films have been submitted to the Polish Film Institute for consideration: YearFilms202025 Years of Innocence · Clergyman ·The Hater · Kill It and Leave This Town · Supernova · Sweat2021The Getaway King · Operation Hyacinth · Prime Time2022The Balcony Movie · Broad Peak · Filip · Fucking Bornholm · Illusion · Silent Land · Woman on the Roof2023Green Border · In the Rearview · Pianoforte · Woman Of...2024Go Against the Flow · Life And Deaths Of Max Linder · Minghun · Next to Nothing · One Soul · People · Scarborn · Silent Trees · Woman Of...2025Child of Dust · Chopin, A Sonata in Paris · Home Sweet Home · Letters from Wolf Street · Trains · Two Sisters · Vinci 22026 Closure · Gorky Resort · No Ghosts on Good Street · Our Revolution · Through the Wall · Wild Wild East
See also Cinema of Poland List of Polish films List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films
Notes
References
External links
The Official Academy Awards Database