Best International Feature Film - 98th Academy Awards

Global Cinema Excellence

The International Feature Film category (formerly Foreign Language Film) celebrates outstanding cinematic works produced outside the United States. These films represent diverse cultures, languages, and storytelling traditions, offering unique perspectives that enrich global cinema and foster cross-cultural understanding.

Cinema is the universal language that connects us all

The Secret Agent

Brazil

Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Language: Portuguese

Runtime: 142 minutes

Also Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Actor (Wagner Moura), Best Adapted Screenplay

Festival Awards: Cannes Best Director, São Paulo International Film Festival Grand Prize

"The Secret Agent is not just a political thriller; it's a meditation on memory, resistance, and the personal cost of living under oppression. We wanted to capture the atmosphere of 1970s Brazil—the fear, the whispers, the courage—while telling a story that resonates with contemporary struggles for freedom everywhere."

Key Elements:

Political Thriller Historical Drama Military Dictatorship Era Brazilian Resistance Moral Complexity

PALME D'OR WINNER

It Was Just an Accident

France

Director: Jafar Panahi

Language: French, Farsi

Runtime: 128 minutes

Festival Awards: Palme d'Or (Cannes 2025), FIPRESCI Prize

Note: Panahi's first film made in exile after fleeing Iran

"This film explores what happens when the line between victim and perpetrator blurs. Two former political prisoners meet by chance, and their encounter forces them to confront their shared trauma, their capacity for revenge, and ultimately, their humanity. It's a film about the accidents that change our lives and the justice we seek."

Key Elements:

Roadside Encounter Moral Dilemma Political Exile Existential Drama Cross-Cultural Dialogue

Sentimental Value

Norway

Director: Joachim Trier

Language: Norwegian, English

Runtime: 136 minutes

Also Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Actress (Renate Reinsve), Best Supporting Actress (Elle Fanning, Inga Lilleaas), Best Original Screenplay

Festival Awards: Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award

"Sentimental Value is about the stories we tell ourselves and the stories others tell about us. It's about family mythology, artistic legacy, and how memory can both connect and divide us. The film asks: What do we inherit from our parents, and what do we create for ourselves?"

Key Elements:

Family Drama Memory & Legacy Artistic Ambition Scandinavian Cinema Emotional Reconciliation

Sirāt

Spain

Director: Carla Simón

Language: Spanish, Arabic

Runtime: 118 minutes

Festival Awards: San Sebastián Golden Shell, Berlin International Film Festival Jury Grand Prix

Note: Filmed on location in Morocco and Southern Spain

"Sirāt means 'path' in Arabic, and this film is about the journeys we take—both physical and emotional. A father and son travel through the desert searching for a lost daughter, but they're also searching for connection, for meaning, for a way to bridge the gaps between generations and cultures."

Key Elements:

Road Movie Father-Son Journey Desert Landscape Cross-Cultural Encounter Electronic Music Culture

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Tunisia

Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Language: Arabic, English

Runtime: 94 minutes

Festival Awards: Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize, Documentary Feature nominee

Note: Based on real emergency calls from the 2023 Gaza conflict

"This film was born from a single emergency call—a six-year-old girl trapped alone under fire. We use docudrama techniques to recreate not just the events, but the emotional reality of that moment. It's a film about the human voices behind the headlines, about the people who try to help, and about the children who deserve to be heard."

Key Elements:

Docudrama Emergency Call Reconstruction Humanitarian Crisis Child's Perspective Real Events

International Feature Film Facts

Countries Represented

Languages Spoken

Also Best Picture Nominees

Palme d'Or Winner

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