The 10 Best Foreign Language Best Picture Nominees

The first time a non-English speaking movie was nominated for the most coveted award at the Academy Awards, Best Picture, was 1931. The French comedy À Nous la Liberté didn’t take the Oscar then, but it became an example of how foreign productions can be deemed exquisite and outstanding enough to compete for the grand prize. Many foreign-language movies have been nominated for Best Picture since 1931, though not many have won. Foreign language, by Academy standards, means any language that isn’t English.

This year marks a record in the number of foreign language Best Picture nominees – Past Lives, partly in Korean, is in the running together with Anatomy of a Fall, a French-English production, and The Zone of Interest, a movie completely in German and some Yiddish, but directed by Jonathan Glazer and produced by A24 – a production house with plenty of Oscar-nominated movies. Movies which aren’t in English are still worth watching; when audiences remember there’s a vast world outside the confines of what they know, they can discover the kind of cinema they prefer. Or, as Bong Joon-ho, the famous South Korean director, more poetically said: “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

10 ‘The Postman’ (1994)

‘Il Postino,’ Italy; directed by Michael Radford

Il Postino, or The Postman, was an interesting addition to the 1995 Academy Awards Best Picture roster. Although Mel Gibson‘s epic spectacle Braveheart won the accolade, Il Postino was a worthy opponent. Directed by Michael Radford and starring the late Italian legend Massimo Troisi, Il Postino is about the unlikely friendship between the famous poet Pablo Neruda and the local postman. Neruda was exiled from Chile and spent 1952 on the Italian island of Capri.

This was the inspiration for, firstly, a book – Ardent Patience (Ardiente Paciencia) by Antonio Skarmeta, and then the movie adaptation. The movie was carefully and lovingly crafted by Radford and Troisi, depicting Neruda’s exile to a small Italian island and his befriending of the local postman (played by Troisi) who expresses interest in writing poetry like Neruda. Massimo Troisi had heart issues since childhood, and Michael Radford spoke with The Guardian about filmingIl Postino while Troisi was ill. He worked around an hour during the daybecause he couldn’t get too tired; apparently, Troisi wanted to take it slowly and finish the movie before he died. One day after filming wrapped, Troisi passed away, and the entire country was in mourning. Il Postino may have been nominated as an homage to Troisi, but it stands the test of time as a movie about love, friendship, and poetry.

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9 ‘The Emigrants’ (1971)

‘Utvandrarna,’ Sweden; directed by Jan Troell

Stories about the struggles of immigrants are more or less a universal experience. People move and leave their homelands all the time – some are forced and some choose to seek better and bigger opportunities for themselves or their families. The Swedish historical drama The Emigrants is a book adaptation of the two books in a series of four – The Emigrants and Unto a Good Land, written by Vilhelm Moberg. Director Jan Troell chose to put together the first two books depicting the hardships of the Nilsson family. The first part of the movie shows the family on their land in Sweden, struggling with the likes of illness, dated equipment, the barren land, and the class system. When the youngest son of the family expresses the wish to move to America, having read about the wonderful opportunities in Minnesota, he isn’t met with the biggest resistance. The eldest son agrees, and they begin their journey to New York, and from there, to the promised land – Minnesota.

With a fairly long – and not undeserved, like with some movies – runtime of 191 minutes, The Emigrants shows the difficulties of making a life-changing decision combined with the uplifting feeling of hope and dreaming of a better existence. The Emigrants was in the running for Best Picture alongside some of the cult classics of the 1970s, and ultimately lost to the widely considered greatest movie of all time, The Godfather.

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8 ‘Amour’ (2012)

‘Amour,’ France; directed by Michael Haneke

Amour means “love” in French, and many would agree love is the strongest driving force known to man. Whether it’s for another person, an animal, a movie, or a cup of coffee, humans are motivated by it and usually go through their days because of it. Michael Haneke‘s Amour doesn’t dabble in the mundane as much – this heavy-hitting story about an elderly couple, Georges and Anna, shows their unwavering love during a traumatizing illness.

Amourquietly explores the bond of a couple that’s been married for decades; when Anna starts having severe health problems, she asks Georges to promise he’ll be the only one to take care of her. Georges makes and keeps the promise throughout, no matter how tough the situation becomes for him. Haneke stated that the movie was inspired by a story that happened in his own life, and wanted to depict the helplessness of observing such grave events without being able to help. At the 2013 Academy Awards, Amour was in the running for Best Picture, which political thriller Argo ended up winning. Regardless, Amour won the Best Foreign Language Film at that same ceremony, so Haneke didn’t leave empty-handed.

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7 ‘Cries and Whispers’ (1971)

‘Viskningar Och Rop,’ Sweden; directed by Ingmar Bergman

There’s rarely a director as timeless and special as Ingmar Bergman. Most might know him for his fantasy film The Seventh Seal or the psychological thriller Persona, but Bergman has had a huge filmography during his lifetime, and is considered highly influential on cinema. That’s why it’s not so surprising to see one of his movies, Cries and Whispers, receive a Best Picture nomination. This was in 1972, when one of the best crime capers of all time, The Sting, won the coveted prize and not even one of the greatest cinematographers could beat it.

Cries and Whispers is a period drama about Agnes, a dying woman, her two sisters Maria and Karin, who are her caretakers, and Anna, their housekeeper who has known the sisters all their lives. The story shows how Agnes’s illness forces the sisters to face their past and find the times they’ve felt love and devotion – to each other and even themselves. Cries and Whispers received numerous accolades and critical praise, but what describes its impact the best might be Roger Ebert’s words: “Cries and Whispers is like no movie I’ve seen before, and like no movie Ingmar Bergman has made before; although we are all likely to see many films in our lives, there will be few like this one.”

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6 ‘Roma’ (2018)

‘Roma,’ Mexico; directed by Alfonso Cuarón

Alfonso Cuarón‘s Roma was hailed as one of the best movies of 2018, which was also shown through its numerous nominations – including the one for Best Picture at the Oscars. Though Green Book took home the ultimate prize, Roma was the first Mexican feature to be nominated for the highest accolade given by the Academy. For Cuarón himself, this was extra praise, as he had already won the Best Director award in 2013 for Gravity (one of his biggest box-office successes).

This is no small feat for a movie about a middle-class family and their housekeeper, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), the main character of the story. It’s a slow burn drama portraying the dynamic between Cleo and the family she works for. Set in the 1970s and shot in black and white, Roma shows, on one hand, the lives of the seemingly carefree and their treatment of the working class; on the other hand, it also shows how Cleo, part of the working class, develops a bond with her employers while dealing with her own convictions and life events. Does she find the bond to her employers honest, or does she feel conditioned to like them? Yalitza Aparicio is fantastic in this emotionally charged social drama, which won the Best Foreign Language Film award before missing out on the grand prize.

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5 ‘Drive My Car’ (2021)

‘Doraibu Mai Kā,’ Japan; directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

A character study, a lesson in observation and listening, and a mastery of visual simplicity, Drive My Car was, for many, the best movie of 2021. The critics praised it, and numerous award shows waited in line to give director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi his laurels. Awards mean a lot and are often a measure of a good film, but Drive My Car is special for more reasons than its overall critical praise.

While it initially focuses on dealing with death and coping with loss, it also dabbles in finding purpose. A lot of the imagery combines the (often imposed) Japanese subdued approach to expressing emotions (known as the honne and tatemae concept), turning the story into one of finding the means within oneself to cope with hardship. Drive My Car is a fantastically immersive film, so it makes sense that it was nominated for the most important Academy Award category – Best Picture. Though CODA won over the Academy members more, Drive My Car was named the Best International Feature Film. This is surely one of the most praised Japanese movies, it’s also one of the greatest movies of the 2020s (so far).

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4 ‘The Zone of Interest’ (2023)

United Kingdom, Poland; directed by Jonathan Glazer

2023 was marked by exceptional features by A24, including Past Lives and The Zone of Interest, this year’s Best Picture nominees. The Zone of Interest is the competition’s dark horse, for sure; this German-Polish-British movie is yet to be watched by many global cinemagoers, but it’s already swept award shows and critical praise. Besides general amusement, many viewers found the movie a hard pill to swallow, such as the Roger Ebert critic Robert Daniels, who wrote: “It’s a disturbing work, guided by a discomforting sense of immaculateness that chills the viewer.”

Based on real events and real people, the film follows the family Höss — Auschwitz commandant Rudolph, his wife Hedwig, and their two children. They live in a model house with a model garden, but that house is nestled right next to the camp. Director Jonathan Glazer and his crew made sure to create an ominous masterpiece by placing the movie set literally next to Auschwitz in Poland. The impeccable sound engineering signifies the horrors that surround the family, while the stunning cinematography depicts contrasting visions of a comfortable life and unsettling horrors.

3 ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (2000) –

‘Wòhǔ Càng Lóng,’ Taiwan; directed by Ang Lee

Although there are many wuxia movies today, none can rival the magic of Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Wuxia is a Chinese term, literally translated as “martial arts and chivalry;” many might recognize this word’s other pronunciation, wushu, and though wuxia movies include martial arts, they’re not the same as what Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan used to do. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the first movie of its kind to promote the enchantment of wuxia to wider audiences, but the story bears a lot more than fabulous fighting choreography.

At its core, it’s a story of hidden love, with elements of mystery, adventure, and lots of action. The choreography of each battle displays the fighters’ unwavering dedication, as these confrontations come naturally to them, and it’s what they’ve been training for their entire lives. The leads are the legendary actors Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, and Zhang Ziyi, among an immensely talented ensemble cast. They all helped create one of the greatest wuxia films, and one of the best movies of the 21st century.

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2 ‘Z’ (1969)

France, Algeria; directed by Costa-Gavras

Roger Ebert described Z as “a political cry of rage and a brilliant suspense thriller.” This is a pretty accurate depiction of Z, a movie riddled with societal and political injustice that simply has to be seen to be believed. The then young Costa-Gavras, with two movies under his directing belt, co-wrote and directed Z as a response and outrage to Greek government corruption. He is known for writing and directing movies based on real events, usually political happenings that shook the core of its participants and witnesses.

Z is no different. This movie established Costa-Gavras as a groundbreaking filmmaker, unafraid to speak the truth and unveil morally corrupt officials exactly for who they are. At the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970, Z was among the Best Picture nominees. Though the most prized award went to John Schlesinger‘s Midnight Cowboy, Z won the Best Foreign Language Film award. Though Costa-Gavras is Greek and Z is about the Greek military junta, the movie is listed as an Algerian production because he was banned from making it in his homeland.

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1 ‘Parasite’ (2019)

‘Gisaengchung,’ South Korea; directed by Bong Joon-ho

With a staggering 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Parasite is the best-rated foreign film to be in the running for Best Picture. Not just that, but this South Korean masterpiece won Best Picture that evening in 2020, making it the first ever movie not in English to win this accolade. This historic decision was a part of a sweep – it won Best International Feature, Bong Joon-ho won the Best Director and Best Original Screenplay awards.

Parasite follows the Kim family, who live by earning money on a daily basis, attempting to earn enough for a living while deceiving the system in some ways. They steal their neighbors’ wi-fi, fake college degrees, and set up traps to move up in the world. While this initially depicts them as unscrupulous hustlers, their run-ins with the higher class show they’re not just con-artists for the sake of it. Enveloped in a genre-bending story, Parasite is for the most part a drama, cleverly introducing elements of black comedy, mystery, thriller, and even horror – everything that being human represents. Parasite stars the South Korean cinema icons Song Kang-ho and Lee Sun-kyun (who has sadly passed away in December 2023).

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