INDUSTRY: Foreign Film, Global Lens, and the Academy Awards

By The Global Film Initiative, on February 21st, 2013

We take a look at global film on the world stage…

It’s a historic year for Chilean film. This year marks the country’s first ever Academy-Award nomination. While the Andean nation has submitted 17 titles to the “Best Foreign Language Film” competition since 1990, it has never made the final list of nominees…until now. Having awarded numerous grants to Chile’s filmmakers, and distributed some of the country’s best films, we’re excited to watch the Chilean film continue to succeed on the world stage. (If you haven’t already, make sure to catch a screening of Sebastían Silva’s, Life Kills Me now touring in the Global Lens 2013 tour.) But first, some Oscar trivia…

- Italy holds the record with the most Oscar wins (13)

- Argentina is the only Latin American country to have won the award.

- Iran became the first and only Middle-Eastern country to win the award in 2011.

- Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, and Ivory Coast are the only countries to have won on their first and only nomination.

Best Foreign Language Film Wins by Country

This map shows foreign film wins by country. Italy tops with 13 awards, followed by France with 12. Spain, Japan, and Russia tie with 4. This map includes “Honorary Award” from 1947-1955.

Via chartsbin.com. Data source: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A note about total wins: Czech Republic includes Czechoslovakia (2) awards. Germany includes West Germany (1) awards. Russia includes Soviet Union (3) awards.

Nominated, But No Award

This map looks at countries that have received a nomination, but no award. Israel tops with 10 nominations, followed by Mexico and Belgium with 9.

Via chartsbin.com. Data source: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Global Lens Academy Award Submissions

From Cuba to Croatia, over the past ten years, the Global Lens series distributed 16 official Academy Award submissions. You can browse these honored titles in the GFI film catalogue, or watch them instantly on Hulu or Vimeo.