Oscars International Feature Race Hits a Record 105 Entries

"TheWrap reported on October 18 that 105 films have been assigned to Academy voters in the Best International Feature race, the first time the category has reached triple digits. The previous record was 93 eligible films, set in 2020, and the last three years landed in the mid to high 80s, according to TheWrap's Steve Pond. The count is still provisional: TheWrap noted that the Academy will release an official list before shortlist voting, and its own October 9 tally stood at 103 before the Busan result came in.

The jump is driven partly by the Academy's new rule letting films qualify by winning the top prize at Sundance (narrative and documentary), Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Toronto or Busan, in addition to the traditional one film per country. TheWrap counted seven festival qualifiers, three of which were also their home country's submission. Festival entries include Ilker Catak's Yellow Letters (Berlin), Visar Morina's Shame and Money (Sundance), Theja Rio's Angh (Toronto) and Majid Majidi's Midday Meal, which won Busan's top prize last week. Cyprus, El Salvador and Rwanda are submitting for the first time, the Democratic Republic of the Congo returns after 29 years and Sri Lanka after 17.

Opted-in members were sorted into nine viewing groups of 11 or 12 films and must watch every title in their group to vote. First-round voting runs December 7 to 11, with a 15-film shortlist due December 15. TheWrap singled out one group stacked with Cristian Mungiu's Palme d'Or winner Fjord (Romania), Pawel Pawlikowski's Fatherland (Poland) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi's All of a Sudden (Japan); other high-profile entries include Lukas Dhont's Coward (Belgium), Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love (South Korea) and Ildiko Enyedi's Silent Friend (Hungary), several of which Screen International has also listed as official national submissions. The award now goes to the film rather than the country, and the list is now sorted by title."