A New Era for International Directors in the Oscar Race
As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continues to expand its voting membership, with 55% of 2025’s invitees coming from outside the U.S., the landscape of the Oscars is shifting. This change has led to more international films like “Drive My Car” and “Emilia Pérez” receiving nominations and even winning awards. It has also opened the door for the director category to become more globally representative.
This year’s best director race features a strong lineup of international contenders, including Joachim Trier (“Sentimental Value”), Jafar Panahi (“It Was Just an Accident”), Park Chan-wook (“No Other Choice”), Kleber Mendonça Filho (“The Secret Agent”), Kaouther Ben Hania (“The Voice of Hind Rajab”), Oliver Laxe (“Sirāt”), and Annemarie Jacir (“Palestine 36”). While some of these filmmakers have previously been shortlisted or nominated, this year’s wide-open race offers them a chance to earn their first best director nod.
Trier reflects on the impact of this shift: “There’s a humanism in that we can all look at specific stories from different places and really identify with each other. And without sounding too cheesy, I think that is a wonderful thing that I grew up enjoying, and I am allowed to contribute now that my films are traveling around the world.”
Cannes winners such as “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Substance” have also seen their directors recognized at the Oscars, alongside U.S. names. This trend highlights how Cannes has become a crucial platform for international directors looking to establish themselves early on, especially with distributors like Neon regularly returning to the festival to acquire Oscar hopefuls.
Trier emphasizes the importance of Cannes: “Cannes is a fantastic loudspeaker that speaks cinema. It takes in all these different types of films.” His previous Oscar nominee “The Worst Person in the World” premiered there, as did his acclaimed family drama “Sentimental Value,” which won this year’s Grand Prix award.
Challenges and Opportunities for International Filmmakers
Jafar Panahi, who recently won the Palme d’Or for “It Was Just an Accident,” has spoken about the challenges facing the best international feature category. Countries under authoritarian regimes, such as Iran, often do not submit films like his due to political pressures. Instead, the film was selected by France as a co-production.
“There has to be a new solution to resolve this problem and take it out of the hands of the states,” Panahi says.
Park Chan-wook, known for his darkly humorous class satire “No Other Choice,” notes the growth of Korean cinema since Bong Joon Ho’s historic win with “Parasite.” However, he also points to challenges in Korea, where the pandemic led to a decline in theater attendance. “I think the situation is more serious in Korea compared to other countries,” he says.
With former president Yoon Suk Yeol cutting government funding for film and the arts, Korean filmmakers have faced difficulties since 2022. “Our new government has promised to provide more funding for filmmakers, but we will have to wait and see how practically helpful those decisions will actually be. We’re all trying to still stay hopeful,” Park adds.
Supporting International Cinema
Countries like Brazil have experienced fluctuating support for their film industries, depending on the administration. Under current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, public funding has returned. “Brazil has always been very supportive because we have the public funding system. And public funding for the arts is actually part of the Brazilian constitution,” says Kleber Mendonça Filho.
Filho’s profile was raised by his best director prize at Cannes earlier this year, and he also credits the high profile of Brazilian cinema built by Walter Salles’ Oscar-winning “I’m Still Here.”
Palestinian filmmakers often rely on co-productions for financial support. Annemarie Jacir’s “Palestine 36,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, was a co-production involving France and the U.K. “Sometimes they could be really unusual combinations, but it’s how we manage to make our films that way,” Jacir explains.
She also emphasizes the importance of supporting local crews and new generations of Palestinian directors. “I want people who are working from the heart. That’s more important to me than the experience, because it’s not easy to make films here. And so you have to think about what you are doing. You have to really believe in it.”
The Role of Regional Festivals
Regional festivals have played a key role in elevating international directors. Distributors like Neon prioritize including them on press tours, and the Middleburg Film Festival in Virginia has become a pivotal stop. Susan Koch, executive director of Middleburg, says: “It always adds so much to have the director there and to be able to interact with the audience, and for people to hear directly from the people involved with the film. We’ve made that a real priority.”
Panahi attended Middleburg to accept this year’s Impact Award. “The distributors told me that we are going to these little towns, to these little festivals, and I listened. I went anywhere and everywhere that they wanted me to go,” he says. “Sometimes we fly to places and we’re not even there for 24 hours. It’s extremely grueling, but I know that if I show any signs of exhaustion, it’s going to affect others.”
A Changing Academy Landscape
With this year’s competitive best director race potentially featuring both new and returning Oscar nominees, many contenders are themselves Academy voters who have been invited in recent years. That means they’ve seen the global changes first-hand.
“I do feel that the human landscape of Academy members has changed, and I think it makes complete sense,” Filho says. “I’m well received in the U.S., my films get recognition and good coverage in the press and U.S. distribution. And I still have to remember that, as much as I’m part of this, it’s still a system that was set up, originally, to recognize U.S. films. So, in one way, I feel foreign, but in another way I feel very much welcome into the mix.”
