Germany has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[nb 1] since the creation of the award in 1956. The award is handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.[3]
Each year, the Academy invites countries to submit their best films for competition according to strict rules, with only one film being accepted from each country.[3] However, because of Germany's status as a divided country throughout much of the second half of the 20th century, West Germany and East Germany competed separately in the Best Foreign Language Film category until 1990. With eight nominations and one win,[4] West Germany was far more successful than East Germany, whose only nomination was received in 1976 for Jacob the Liar, a film which the Moscow International Film Festival had refused to screen.[5] West Germany received four consecutive nominations during the first years of the award's existence. It fared less well in the 1960s, as all of its submissions failed to garner a nomination. The advent of New German Cinema led to an improvement of German cinema's reputation abroad. As a result of this, West Germany received several nominations during the 1970s, culminating with The Tin Drum's victory in 1979.[6]
West Germany and East Germany were formally reunited on 3 October 1990.[7] The 63rd Academy Awards, held on 25 March 1991,[8] were thus the first at which Germany was able to participate as a single country. Reunified Germany has been successful in the Best International Feature Film category, securing three wins and nine nominations in three decades.[4] The three German films that received the award since reunification are All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) by Edward Berger, The Lives of Others (2006) by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and Nowhere in Africa (2001) by Caroline Link. Donnersmarck and Link are the only two German directors to have had more than one film selected and nominated in this category. Several other German films have received Academy Awards in categories other than Best International Feature Film.[a]
- ^ "Academy announces rules for 92nd Oscars". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 23 April 2019. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- ^ "Academy Announces Rule Changes For 92nd Oscars". Forbes. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Rule Thirteen: Special Rules for the Foreign Language Film Award". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ a b "Foreign Language Film Facts". Academy Award Statistics. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. March 2009. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
- ^ Baron, Lawrence (2005). Projecting the Holocaust into the Present: The Changing Focus of Contemporary Holocaust Cinema. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-7425-4333-1. OCLC 60245614.
- ^ Pflaum, Hans Günther. "On the history of the German candidates for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film". German Films. Archived from the original on 13 August 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
- ^ Steinbruckner, Bruno F (August 1995). Solsten, Eric (ed.). Germany: A Country Study. Federal Research Division. Opening of the Berlin Wall and Unification.
- ^ "Oscar Legacy: Academy Awards Ceremonies from 1990–1999". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
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