Best International Feature Race Crosses 100 Films for First Time

The Academy's Best International Feature Film race has drawn 105 entries in 2027, the largest submission pool in the category's history and the first to clear 100, surpassing the prior record of 93 set in 2020. The Wrap first reported the count.

The new cycle introduces rule changes that guarantee automatic entry to winners of major festival prizes and allow multiple films from the same country. The combination reshapes the early race in ways no previous year has matched — though the Academy has not published how automatic entries interact with the shortlist ceiling.

What does the record pool change for the race?

A roughly 13% jump from the prior benchmark compresses the shortlisting window and stretches Academy voters' viewing load. With festival winners bypassing the shortlist automatically, first-round competition for the remaining slots intensifies. The math is unforgiving: six guaranteed berths already locked leave 99 remaining submissions competing for whatever non-automatic places remain.

The submissions also reflect the rule allowing more than one entry per country. That opens the door to stacked national slates rather than the previous one-film-per-country model.

Who has already locked automatic berths?

Six titles enter by virtue of major-festival wins:

• Berlin Golden Bear: Yellow Letters, İlker Çatak (Germany/France/Turkey)
• Cannes Palme d'Or: Fjord, Cristian Mungiu (Romania/France/Norway/Sweden/Denmark)
• Venice Golden Lion: Woman Unknown, May el-Toukhy (Denmark/Sweden/Latvia)
• Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic): Shame and Money, Visar Morina (Germany/Kosovo/Slovenia/Albania/North Macedonia/Belgium)
• Busan Award for Best Film: Midday Meal, Majid Majidi (Iran)
• Toronto Platform Award: Angh, Theja Rio (India)

Each takes a guaranteed place regardless of how domestic committees submit.

Which contenders carry the strongest festival pedigree?

Several non-winning entries arrive armed with major prizes. Markus Schleinzer's Rose earned Sandra Hüller the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at Berlin. Lukas Dhont's WWI film Coward shared the Cannes Best Actor trophy between Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne. Geneviève Dulude-De Celles took the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at Berlin 2026 for Cœur. Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Paris-set drama shared the Cannes Best Actress award between Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto. Andrius Blaževičius's divorce drama won the Directing Award for World Cinema Dramatic at Sundance 2026.

Variety called Gala del Sol's Babel, a Sundance premiere, "a dazzling, daring provocation."

What remains unknown?

The Academy has not released a final submission count. National committees continue selecting through late autumn. The shortlist announcement typically lands in December, leaving roughly six weeks for voters to absorb the field. Watch whether stacked national slates produce the first multi-film shortlist in category history.