Oscars Add a Festival-Winner Path for Non-English-Language Films

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the rules for the 99th Oscars on May 1. The changes apply to films with qualifying theatrical releases between January 1 and December 31, 2026, with the ceremony scheduled for early 2027.

The largest changes are to the International Feature Film category — historically the only realistic route into the Oscars for non-English-language films. Until now, only one path existed: a country's national selection committee submitted one film per year to the Academy, and any film not picked by its country was ineligible. The system has long been criticized for political interference in committee decisions, inconsistent committee organization across countries, and the absence of any functional submission body in many places, including much of Africa.

Starting with the 99th Oscars next year, a non-English-language film can also qualify by winning a designated prize at one of six festivals: the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Best Film Award at the Busan International Film Festival, the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, the Platform Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, or the Golden Lion at Venice.

Essentially, top prizes at the "Big 5" film festivals, with Busan in South Korea as the outlier.

Furthermore, under the old rules, the nominee was the submitting country, and the country accepted the award. Under the new rules, the film itself is the nominee, and the director accepts on behalf of the creative team, not the country. The director's name will appear on the statuette plaque after the film title and, where applicable, the country or region.

The journey for African films seeking Oscar recognition can now also go through this new festival pathway, which requires winning a top prize at a European, North American, or Asian event.

Several African countries with active Oscar selection committees declined to submit films for the 98th Academy Awards — notably, Kenya's selection committee found no eligible entries, and Nigeria did not submit for the third time in five years. Under the old rules, a film not picked by its country had no other route. The new festival pathway now offers a second option, even if the requirements are stringent.

Note that it doesn't change the language rule itself. To qualify for the International Feature category, a film's dialogue must still be more than 50 percent in a language other than English. The threshold has been a recurring obstacle for Anglophone African submissions — Nigeria's first entry, "Lionheart" (2019), was disqualified after the Academy determined that 11 minutes of Igbo in a 95-minute film fell short. The Academy later added Nigerian Pidgin to its list of accepted non-English languages but left the 50 percent rule in place.

Changes to other categories include restricting the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Acting nominations are now limited to roles "credited in the film's legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent." Screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible in the writing categories. The Academy also says it can request more information from any submitter about how generative AI was used on a film.

A separate acting rule change allows actors to receive multiple nominations in the same category for different performances, provided both place in the top five votes. The shift brings acting in line with how composers, casting teams, and other crafts are already treated.

Several smaller technical changes were also approved. The Casting category will award up to three statuettes per win, up from two. The Cinematography shortlist is fixed at 20 films, replacing the previous range of 10 to 20. Makeup and Hairstyling voters must attend at least one of the two final branch roundtables to be eligible to vote in the preliminary round. All Academy members must view the three-minute before-and-after reels from the Visual Effects Bake-Off to be eligible to vote in the final round. The Original Song rules clarify eligibility for songs placed in the end credits.

Submission deadlines begin on August 13, 2026, for animated, documentary, and live action shorts. General entries, Best Picture, animated features, and the Representation and Inclusion Standards entry form open September 17.

International Feature submissions are due September 30.