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List of Brazilian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Brazil has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[nb 1] since 1960. The award is handed out annually by the United States–based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature length motion picture produced outside the U.S. that contains primarily non-English language dialogue.[3] It was not created until the 1956 Academy Awards, in which a competitive Academy Award of Merit was created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since.[4]
Black Orpheus, a Portuguese language film shot in Rio de Janeiro with a large Brazilian cast and crew, won the award at the 1959 ceremony for France. Since the film was directed by French filmmaker Marcel Camus and produced by French companies, it was only able to be nominated as France's official submission.
In 1986, Kiss of the Spider Woman became the first Brazilian co-production to get nominated for Best Picture. However, it was ineligible to be selected as the official submission because it was mostly in English.
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Seven films directed by Carlos Diegues (also known as Cacá Diegues) have been chosen to represent Brazil at the Oscars, more than any other filmmaker. Followed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos and Walter Salles, with four each.
Three films by Bruno Barreto were submitted, although his biggest success, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, the fourth highest-grossing film in the history of Brazilian cinema, was not chosen. His 1997 drama film Four Days in September was nominated at the 70th Academy Awards.
Suzana Amaral's Hour of the Star (1987) was the first film directed by a woman to be submitted. Only twenty-nine years later another film directed by a female filmmaker was selected as the Brazilian's entry: Anna Muylaert's The Second Mother (2015). Four years later, Babenco: Tell Me When I Die (2019), by Bárbara Paz became the third and last, as of 2025.
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Submissions
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At the 71st Academy Awards, Central Station received a nomination, alongside Fernanda Montenegro in the Best Actress category. It marked the first time that a Brazilian actor was nominated for an acting category.
At the 75th Academy Awards, even though City of God was selected as the Brazilian submission, the film was famously snubbed and the decision was met with heavy criticism, since it was considered the category's front-runner. In the subsequently year, at the 76th Academy Awards, the film was nominated in four categories: Best Director for Fernando Meirelles, Best Adapted Screenplay for Bráulio Mantovani, Best Cinematography for César Charlone, and Best Film Editing for Daniel Rezende.
At the 97th Academy Awards, Brazil won the award for the first time with I'm Still Here, becoming the first-ever Brazilian produced film to win an Academy Award, while the film was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Actress (for Fernanda Torres), marking the first time that a Brazilian film, shot in Portuguese, was nominated for Best Picture.[5][6]
As of 2025, 54 Brazilian films have been submitted for the award. Five of these submissions resulted in nominations for the category, and one of them resulted in a win. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by the Brazilian government for Academy Award consideration. The Brazilian nominee is selected annually by a committee assembled by the Brazilian Academy of Cinema.[7]
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Shortlisted films
Since 2022, Brazil has announced a list of finalists that varied in number over the years (from 5 to 6 films) before announcing its official Oscar submission. The following films have been shortlisted:
| 2022 | Charcoal · A Mãe · Pedro, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea · Pacified · Paloma[31] |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Alien Nights · Our Dream · A Strange Path · Toll · Vultures[32] |
| 2024 | Bittersweet Rain · Cidade; Campo · Heartless · Motel Destino · Power Alley[33] |
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Notes
^ a: Also known as The Given Word and The Promise in the English-speaking market.
^ b: Central do Brasil was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The film's lead actress, Fernanda Montenegro, held the title as the only Brazilian nominated in an acting category until her daughter, Fernanda Torres, was nominated in 2025.[34][35]
^ c: Cidade de Deus was submitted for the 75th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film award. The film, however, was eventually nominated for four awards—Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing—at the following ceremony. It shares the title with Kiss of the Spider Woman as the Brazilian film with the highest number of nominations. All of Cidade de Deus nominees were Brazilian, while Hector Babenco was the only Brazilian nominee for Kiss of the Spider Woman, an American co-production.[34]
^ d: Ainda Estou Aqui was also nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actress.[36]
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References
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