Israel has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1964. 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. An AMPAS' 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. Since 1991, the submission is decided based on the winner of the Ophir Award for Best Film, organized by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television.
As of 2026, Israel has been nominated ten times. Its most recent nominated film was Footnote (2011).
Submissions Despite its relatively small film-making industry, Israeli is one of the most nominated countries in the category.
In 2007, Aviva My Love and Sweet Mud tied for the Ophir Award for Best Film, necessitating a second round of voting which resulted in the submission of Sweet Mud. In 2008 The Band's Visit won the Ophir Award for Best Film but was disqualified by AMPAS for containing too much English dialogue. The runner-up Beaufort was submitted in its place, resulting in Israel's first Oscar nomination in 23 years.
The most successful Israeli filmmaker is this category is Moshé Mizrahi, who received two nominations representing Israel, and whose 1977 film Madame Rosa won representing France. Ephraim Kishon represented Israel twice, and was nominated both times. Joseph Cedar and Savi Gavison have represented Israel three times each, and Cedar was nominated twice.
In most of the Israeli submissions, the majority of the dialogue was in Hebrew. Films which notably used another language as a primary spoken language are The Glass Cage and Moments (French), Late Marriage (Georgian) and Ajami (the local dialect of Arabic). Many others, including Yana's Friends and Saint Clara, feature a heavy dose of Russian.
Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Israel for review by AMPAS, along with the year of the submission and the respective Academy Award ceremony.
Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Director Result 1964(37th) Sallah סאלח שבתי 1965(38th) The Glass Cage כלוב הזכוכית and Jean-Louis Levi-Alvarès 1966(39th) The Flying Matchmaker שני קוני למל Israel Becker 1968(41st) Every Bastard a King כל ממזר מלך 1969(42nd) Siege מצור Gilberto Tofano 1971(44th) The Policeman השוטר אזולאי 1972(45th) I Love You Rosa אני אוהב אותך רוזה 1973(46th) The House on Chelouche Street הבית ברחוב שלוש 1975(48th) My Michael מיכאל שלי 1977(50th) Operation Thunderbolt מבצע יונתן 1978(51st) Lemon Popsicle אסקימו לימון 1979(52nd) Moments רגעים 1980(53rd) The Thin Line על חבל דק 1981(54th) A Thousand Little Kisses אלף נשיקות קטנות Mira Recanati 1982(55th) Hamsin חמסין 1983(56th) A Married Couple זוג נשוי Yitzhak Yeshurun 1984(57th) Beyond the Walls מאחורי הסורגים 1985(58th) When Night Falls עד סוף הלילה Eitan Green 1986(59th) Avanti Popolo אוונטי פופולו Rafi Bukai 1987(60th) I Don't Give a Damn לא שם זין Shmuel Imberman 1988(61st) The Summer of Aviya הקיץ של אביה Eli Cohen 1989(62nd) One of Us אחד משלנו 1990(63rd) The Lookout שורו 1991(64th) Beyond the Sea מעבר לים Jacob Goldwasser 1992(65th) Life According to Agfa החיים על פי אגפא 1993(66th) Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein נקמתו של איציק פינקלשטיין 1994(67th) Sh'Chur שחור 1995(68th) Lovesick on Nana Street חולה אהבה בשיכון גימל) 1996(69th) Saint Clara קלרה הקדושה and 1997(70th) Pick a Card עפולה אקספרס Julie Shles 1998(71st) Circus Palestine קרקס פלשתינה Eyal Halfon 1999(72nd) Yana's Friends החברים של יאנה Arik Kaplun 2000(73rd) Time of Favor ההסדר 2001(74th) Late Marriage חתונה מאוחרת 2002(75th) Broken Wings כנפיים שבורות 2003(76th) Nina's Tragedies האסונות של נינה 2004(77th) Campfire מדורת השבט 2005(78th) What a Wonderful Place איזה מקום נפלא Eyal Halfon 2006(79th) Sweet Mud אדמה משוגעת 2007(80th) Beaufort בופור 2008(81st) Waltz with Bashir ואלס עם באשיר 2009(82nd) Ajami عجمي / עג'מי and 2010(83rd) The Human Resources Manager שליחותו של הממונה על משאבי אנוש 2011(84th) Footnote הערת שוליים 2012(85th) Fill the Void למלא את החלל 2013(86th) Bethlehem בית לחם 2014(87th) Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem גט – המשפט של ויויאן אמסלם Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz 2015(88th) Baba Joon באבא ג'ון Yuval Delshad 2016(89th) Sand Storm סופת חול Elite Zexer 2017(90th) Foxtrot פוֹקְסטְרוֹט Samuel Maoz 2018(91st) The Cakemaker האופה מברלין Ofir Raul Grazier 2019(92nd) Incitement ימים נוראים Yaron Zilberman 2020(93rd) Asia אסיה Ruthy Pribar 2021(94th) Let It Be Morning ויהי בוקר Eran Kolirin 2022(95th) Cinema Sabaya סינמה סבאיא Orit Fouks Rotem 2023(96th) Seven Blessings שבע ברכות Ayelet Menahemi 2024(97th) Come Closer קרוב אלי Tom Nesher 2025(98th) The Sea הים Shai Carmeli-Pollak 2026(99th) Tell Me Everything עצמאות Moshe Rosenthal
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film Cinema of Israel List of Palestinian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page