2027 international Oscar submissions add Romania, South Korea, Chile and Germany
Nine countries have named films for the 99th Oscars race as a new festival-winner route reshapes international feature eligibility.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
2 min read
The 2027 international Oscar submissions are building quickly, with Romania, South Korea, Chile, Germany, Japan, Cambodia, Austria, Belgium and Ireland among the countries that have named national picks for the 99th Academy Awards' International Feature Film race.
The official Academy submission site sets the deadline at Sept. 30, 2026, at 5 p.m. PST. These are national selections, rather than a final Academy-approved roster, and further entries can arrive before that cutoff.
Which films have countries selected for the 2027 international Oscar race?
Romania has chosen Cristian Mungiu's Fjord, which Variety and Deadline report was selected unanimously by the country's committee. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, according to both outlets.
South Korea's Korean Film Council selected Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love, Variety reported. Chile's Film Academy chose Manuela Martelli's The Meltdown, a drama that premiered in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section, Variety said.
Germany selected Sandra Wollner's Everytime. Variety reported that the film premiered in Un Certain Regard and won that section's Prix Un Certain Regard. Japan selected Ryusuke Hamaguchi's All of a Sudden, according to Variety, while Cambodia's Oscar Selection Committee picked Polen Ly's debut feature Becoming Human.
Elsewhere, Deadline reported that Austria chose Markus Schleinzer's Rose and Belgium selected Lukas Dhont's Coward. Ireland's Irish Film & TV Academy selected Damian McCann's Irish-language heist thriller Aontas, Variety reported.
A second way into the race
This year's competition has a new wrinkle. Alongside the established national-selection process, qualifying non-English-language films can enter through wins at designated festivals, according to Deadline.
The qualifying prizes are Cannes' Palme d'Or, Berlin's Golden Bear, Venice's Golden Lion, Sundance's World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, Busan's Best Film award and Toronto's Platform Award. That route does not replace a country's submission. It gives certain prize-winning films another path into contention.
Fjord shows how the two routes can overlap: Romania selected it, while its Cannes victory means it is also eligible under the new festival rule, Deadline reported. Deadline also said Berlin Golden Bear winner Yellow Letters and Sundance winner Shame and Money qualify independently.
The Academy is scheduled to announce a 15-film international feature shortlist on Dec. 15. Nominations follow on Jan. 21, with the 99th Oscars ceremony set for March 14, 2027, according to Deadline.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.