List of British submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

The United Kingdom has submitted films for consideration for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film irregularly since 1991. The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.^[1] The UK has one of the world's most visible film industries and British films, as well as British actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes crew members have been prominently featured amongst Oscar nominees since the 1930s. Most British features are not eligible for the Best Foreign Language Film, because they are produced in English.

As of 2016, the United Kingdom has submitted fourteen films for Oscar consideration, with two of them getting Oscar nominations. Most of these films were made by directors from or based in Wales, and were in partially or completely filmed in the Welsh language.

The British nominee is selected by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).^[2]

Submissions

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1956.^[3] The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award.^[1] Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by the United Kingdom for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.

Britain's initial Oscar submission- Lost in Siberia- was set in Russia, and focused on a British archaeologist imprisoned in a Soviet gulag.

All six British submissions between 1993 and 2002 were set in Wales. 2008's Hope Eternal is set in Southern Africa but made by a Welsh director.

In 2009, the UK submitted a documentary, and a film directed by a woman, for the first time with Afghan Star, about an American Idol-type talent competition in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

The 2011 submission Patagonia is set in Argentina and Wales.

The 2013 submission Metro Manila is set in the Philippines.

The 2014 submission Little Happiness is set in Turkey.

The 2016 submission Under the Shadow is set in Iran.

• In 2002, BAFTA originally selected the Hindi language The Warrior as its Oscar submission but the film was controversially disqualified by AMPAS because the film did not take place in, nor was it filmed in a language indigenous to, the United Kingdom.^[10] The rule was changed in 2005, and the first film to benefit was a Hindi-language film from Canada.
• In 2007, BAFTA invited British filmmakers to submit films for consideration to represent the UK in the category. Two films responded to the call- Calon Gaeth, in Welsh and Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle, one of the first films ever made in Scots Gaelic. For unknown reasons, BAFTA declined to submit either film. The ensuing controversy led to widespread coverage in the international press and producer Christopher Young resigning his membership of BAFTA. The matter was also raised in the Scottish Parliament ^[11] and BAFTA was asked to reconsider its decision, to no avail.

See also

• List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films
• British Cinema

References

External links

• The Official Academy Awards Database
• The Motion Picture Credits Database
• IMDb Academy Awards Page