Finland has submitted films for consideration in the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film category since 1973. 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 Finnish Academy Awards submission is selected by an expert jury which is chosen by the Finnish Film Foundation.http://www.ses.fi/en/news_news.asp?id=2470
As of 2026, Finland was nominated only once, for The Man Without a Past (2002).
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 Foreign Language Film since 1956. The Foreign Language Film Award 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. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Finland for review by the academy for the award by the year of the submission and the respective Academy Award ceremony.
The Man Without a Past (2002), directed by legendary Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki, was the country first nomination, even though the filmmaker boycotted the ceremony as a protest over the U.S. involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also withdrew his films Drifting Clouds (1996) and Lights in the Dusk (2006), which had been selected as the country official submissions.
The Fencer (2015), Compartment No. 6 (2021), and Fallen Leaves (2023), all advanced to the December shortlists, but were not nominated.
Most of the films submitted are in Finnish, with the exception of: Seven Songs from the Tundra (2000), which was in Nenets and Russian; Le Havre (2011), which was in French; and The Fencer (2015), which was in Estonian. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Finland for review by the Academy.
Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Language(s) Director(s) Result 1973(46th) The Earth Is a Sinful Song Maa on syntinen lauluFinnish 1980(53rd) Flame Top Tulipää Pirjo Honkasalo and Pekka Lehto 1981(54th) Sign of the Beast Pedon merkki 1984(57th) Pessi and Illusia Pessi ja Illusia 1986(59th) The Unknown Soldier Tuntematon sotilas 1987(60th) The Snow Queen Lumikuningatar Päivi Hartzell 1990(63rd) The Winter War Talvisota 1994(66th) Ripa Hits the Skids Ripa ruostuu Christian Lindblad 1995(68th) The Last Wedding Kivenpyörittäjän kylä 1996(69th) Drifting Clouds Kauas pilvet karkaavat Withdrawn by the director prior to its official screening 1997(70th) The Collector Neitoperho 1998(71st) A Summer by the River Kuningasjätkä 1999(72nd) The Tough Ones Häjyt 2000(73rd) Seven Songs from the Tundra Seitsemän laulua tundraltaNenets, Russian Anastasia Lapsui and Markku Lehmuskallio 2001(74th) The River JokiFinnish 2002(75th) The Man Without a Past Mies vailla menneisyyttä 2003(76th) Elina: As If I Wasn't There Elina - Som om jag inte fannsSwedish, Finnish 2004(77th) Producing Adults Lapsia ja aikuisia - Kuinka niitä tehdään?Finnish 2005(78th) Mother of Mine Äideistä parhainFinnish, Swedish 2006(79th) Lights in the Dusk Laitakaupungin valotFinnish Withdrawn by the director prior to its official screening. Source: https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/kaurismaki-turns-off-lights-on-oscar-bid-1117952175/ 2007(80th) A Man's Work Miehen työ 2008(81st) The Home of Dark Butterflies Tummien perhosten koti 2009(82nd) Letters to Father Jacob Postia pappi Jaakobille 2010(83rd) Steam of Life Miesten vuoro Joonas Berghäll 2011(84th) Le HavreFrench 2012(85th) Purge PuhdistusFinnish 2013(86th) Disciple LärjungenSwedish Ulrika Bengts 2014(87th) Concrete Night BetoniyöFinnish 2015(88th) The Fencer MiekkailijaEstonian, Russian 2016(89th) The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki Hymyilevä miesFinnish, English 2017(90th) Tom of Finland 2018(91st) Euthanizer ArmomurhaajaFinnish Teemu Nikki 2019(92nd) Stupid Young Heart Hölmö nuori sydän 2020(93rd) ToveSwedish, Finnish, English, French 2021(94th) Compartment No. 6 Hytti nro 6Finnish, Russian 2022(95th) Girl Picture Tytöt tytöt tytötFinnish, French 2023(96th) Fallen Leaves Kuolleet lehdetFinnish 2024(97th) Family Time Mummola Tia Kouvo 2025(98th) 100 Litres of Gold 100 litraa sahtia Teemu Nikki 2026(99th) The Squirrel Orava Markus Lehmusruusu
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films Cinema of Finland
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page