France has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since the conception of the award in 1956. France has been one of the most successful countries in the world in this category, and more than half of their Oscar submissions have achieved Oscar nominations. 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. The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was not created until 1956 Academy Awards; however, between 1947 and 1955, the Academy presented Honorary Awards to the best foreign language films released in the United States. These awards were not competitive, as there were no nominees but simply a winner every year that was voted on by the Board of Governors of the Academy. Three French films received Honorary Awards during this period.
As of 2026, France received forty-three nominations, winning twelve awards, being the country with the most nominations and the second most wins, only behind Italy (fourteen wins). Its most recent win was Indochine (1992).
France is also the only country that has submitted a film every year since the creation of the award in 1956, and the only country which has been nominated at more than half of the occasions where the award was given.
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. Before the award was created, the Board of Governors of the Academy voted on a film every year that was considered the best foreign-language film released in the United States, and there were no submissions.
The French submission is decided annually by the Centre national de la cinématographie, affiliated with the French Ministry of Culture.
Many French legendary filmmakers represented the country and achieved nominations or wins, including: René Clément, René Clair, Jacques Tati, Marcel Camus, Jacques Demy, François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer, and Louis Malle. While some others although submitted were not nominated, including: Alain Resnais, Jean-Luc Godard, Marguerite Duras, and Maurice Pialat.
Three French films received the Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film released in the United States: Monsieur Vincent (1948), The Walls of Malapaga (1950), and Forbidden Games (1952).
French competitive winning films include: Mon Oncle (1958), Black Orpheus (1959), Sundays and Cybèle (1962), A Man and a Woman (1966), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), Day for Night (1974), Madame Rosa (1977), Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978), and Indochine (1992).
Avenue Montaigne (2006), The Intouchables (2012), Two of Us (2020), Saint Omer (2022), and The Taste of Things (2023), all advanced to the December shortlists, but were not nominated.
Most of the films submitted are primarily in French, with the notable exceptions of the 1959's winner Black Orpheus, which was a co-production with Brazil and shot in Brazilian Portuguese; Mustang nominated in 2015, which was shot in Turkish; Emilia Pérez nominated in 2024, which was shot in Spanish and English; It Was Just an Accident nominated in 2025, which was shot in Persian; and Minotaur submitted in 2026, which was shot in Russian.
Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by France for review by the Academy.
Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Director(s) Result 1948(21st) Monsieur Vincent 1950(23rd) The Walls of Malapaga Au-delà des grilles 1952(25th) Forbidden Games Jeux interdits 1956(29th) Gervaise 1957(30th) Gates of Paris Porte des Lilas 1958(31st) My Uncle Mon Oncle 1959(32nd) Black Orpheus Orfeu Negro 1960(33rd) La Vérité 1961(34th) Last Year at Marienbad L'année dernière à Marienbad 1962(35th) Sundays and Cybèle Les dimanches de ville d'Avray 1963(36th) The Fire Within Le feu follet 1964(37th) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Les Parapluies de Cherbourg 1965(38th) Pierrot le Fou 1966(39th) A Man and a Woman Un homme et une femme 1967(40th) Live for Life Vivre Pour Vivre 1968(41st) Stolen Kisses Baisers volés 1969(42nd) My Night with Maud Ma nuit chez Maud 1970(43rd) Hoa-Binh 1971(44th) Ramparts of Clay Remparts d'argile 1972(45th) The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie 1973(46th) Day for Night La Nuit américaine 1974(47th) Lacombe, Lucien 1975(48th) India Song 1976(49th) Cousin Cousine 1977(50th) Madame Rosa La Vie devant soi 1978(51st) Get Out Your Handkerchiefs Préparez vos mouchoirs 1979(52nd) A Simple Story Une histoire simple 1980(53rd) The Last Metro Le Dernier Métro 1981(54th) Diva 1982(55th) Coup de Torchon 1983(56th) Entre Nous Coup de foudre 1984(57th) So Long, Stooge Tchao Pantin 1985(58th) Three Men and a Cradle Trois hommes et un couffin 1986(59th) Betty Blue 37°2 le matin 1987(60th) Au revoir les enfants 1988(61st) The Reader La Lectrice 1989(62nd) Camille Claudel 1990(63rd) Cyrano de Bergerac 1991(64th) Van Gogh 1992(65th) Indochine 1993(66th) Germinal 1994(67th) Wild Reeds Les roseaux sauvages 1995(68th) French Twist Gazon maudit 1996(69th) Ridicule 1997(70th) Western 1998(71st) The Dreamlife of Angels La vie rêvée des anges 1999(72nd) East/West Est-Ouest / Восток-Запад 2000(73rd) The Taste of Others Le goût des autres 2001(74th) Amélie Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain 2002(75th) 8 Women 8 femmes 2003(76th) Bon Voyage 2004(77th) The Chorus Les Choristes 2005(78th) Joyeux Noël 2006(79th) Avenue Montaigne Fauteuils d'orchestre 2007(80th) Persepolis and 2008(81st) The Class Entre les murs 2009(82nd) A Prophet Un prophète 2010(83rd) Of Gods and Men Des hommes et des dieux 2011(84th) Declaration of War La Guerre est déclarée 2012(85th) The Intouchables Intouchables Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache 2013(86th) Renoir 2014(87th) Saint Laurent 2015(88th) Mustang 2016(89th) Elle 2017(90th) BPM (Beats per Minute) 120 battements par minute 2018(91st) Memoir of War La douleur 2019(92nd) Les Misérables 2020(93rd) Two of Us Deux Filippo Meneghetti 2021(94th) Titane 2022(95th) Saint Omer 2023(96th) The Taste of Things La Passion de Dodin Bouffant Tran Anh Hung 2024(97th) Emilia Pérez Jacques Audiard 2025(98th) It Was Just an Accident یک تصادف ساده Jafar Panahi 2026(99th) Minotaur Минотавр Andrey Zvyagintsev
Shortlisted films Every year since 2015, France has announced a list of finalists that varied in number over the years (from 3 to 5 films) before announcing its official Oscar nominee. The following films have been shortlisted by the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée: YearFilms2015Dheepan · Marguerite · The Measure of a Man · Summertime2016Cézanne and I · Frantz · The Innocents2017Barbara · Redoubtable2018Climax · Custody · The Four Sisters · Lady J2019Portrait of a Lady on Fire · Proxima2020Cuties · DNA · Gagarine · Summer of 852021BAC Nord · Happening2022Full Time · Paris Memories · One Fine Morning · The Worst Ones2023Anatomy of a Fall · The Animal Kingdom · On the Wandering Paths · Sons of Ramses2024All We Imagine as Light · The Count of Monte Cristo · Misericordia2025Arco · The Little Sister · Nouvelle Vague · A Private Life2026De Gaulle · Iron Boy · La Gradiva · The Unknown
Notes Russian title: Восток-Запад
References General
Specific