Malta submitted a film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film for the first time in 2014. 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, Malta has submitted five films, but none of them were nominated.
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.
For the 98th Academy Awards, Malta's Academy Selection Committee received a single entry, Ciao Ciao by Keith Tedesco, but decided not to submit it because, while the film received favorable local reviews, it wasn't well enough positioned internationally. Tedesco called the decision "incompetence."
All the films submitted are primary in Maltese. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Malta for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Language(s) Director Result 2014(87th) Simshar Maltese Rebecca Cremona 2021(94th) Luzzu Alex Camilleri 2022(95th) Carmen Maltese, English Valerie Buhagiar 2024(97th) Castillo Maltese Abigail Mallia 2026(99th) Żejtune Alex Camilleri
See also 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 The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page