Nathaniel Rogers

Oscar Predictions 2010 | Oscar Discussions ~ Blog | Blog (all topics)


What follows is a statistical chart regarding Oscar's Foreign Film category. This chart should not be seen as an indication of which countries have the best cinema. It's purely a reference sheet regarding the various countries and their Oscar snagging aptitude, a talent that is decidedly different than producing masterpieces though there is occasional overlap.

Related: Google map | 2010 Foreign Language Race


Last Updated September 19th, 2009
previous races 2008 / 2007 / 2006 / 2005 / 2004 / 2003 / 2002 / 2001

10 Most Popular Oscar Countries
*of the Past 20 Years*
1990 - 2009

Oscar nominations and wins (in bold) below
Links go to their Netflix page ~ Program yourself an international film festival.
#1
FRANCE
10 noms / 1 win

#2
GERMANY
9 noms / 2 wins


#4
SPAIN
5 noms / 3 wins

#3
ITALY
5 noms / 2 wins

#5
RUSSIA
5 noms / 1 win

Cyrano de Bergerac (90)
Indochine (92)
Ridicule (96)
East-West (99)
The Taste of Others (00)
Amélie (01)
The Chorus (04)
Joyeux Noël (05)
The Class (08)
Un Prophete (09)
The Nasty Girl (90)
Schtonk! (92)
Beyond Silence (97)
Nowhere in Africa (02)
Downfall (04)
Sophie Scholl (05)
The Lives of Others (06)
Baader Meinhof Complex (08)
The White Ribbon (09)

Open Doors (90)
Mediterraneo (91)
The Star Maker (95)
Life is Beautiful (98)
Don't Tell (05)
Close to Eden (92)
Burnt by the Sun (93)
Prisoner of the Mountains (96)
The Thief (97)
12 (07)
#6

SWEDEN
5 noms / 0 wins


#7
THE
NETHERLANDS
4 noms / 2 wins


#8
CZECH REPUBLIC
4 noms / 1 win


#9
TAIWAN
3 noms / 1 win


#10
(tie)
3 noms / 0 wins

MEXICO, BELGIUM, BRAZIL and ISRAEL

The Ox (91)
All Things Fair (95)
Under the Sun (99)
Evil (03)
As It Is In Heaven (04)
Elementary School (91)
Kolya (96)
Divided We Fall (00)
Zelary (03)

Wedding Banquet (93)
Eat Drink Man Woman (94)
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (00)

All were directed by Ang Lee

Who will break the tie?

Runners Up
Japan, Canada, Austria and South Africa have all received two nominations and one win in the past twenty years (1990-2009).
Good Luck Charms 1990 - 2009
movie stars that bode well for your chances in this category
Oleg Menshikov
Russian
appears in 1 winner and 2 nominees

(Burnt by the Sun,
Prisoner of the Mountains, East-West)
Gong Li
Chinese
appears in 3 nominees

(Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, Farewell My Concubine)
Penélope Cruz
Spanish
appears in 2 winners

(Belle Epoque, All About My Mother)
5 way tie
all appearing in 1 winner and 1 nominee
Ricardo Darín
Argentinian (The Secret in Their Eyes, Son of the Bride), Catherine Deneuve French (Indochine, East-West), Juliane Köhler German (Nowhere in Africa, Downfall), Zdenek Sverák Czech (The Elementary School, Kolya) and Betty Schuurman Dutch (Character, Twin Sisters)
 
runners up: Bruno Ganz (Swiss), Johan Widerberg (Swedish) and Gael Garcia Bernal (Mexican) all appeared in 2 nominees during the past 20 years

Oscar Predictions 2009 | Oscar Discussions ~ Blog | Blog (all topics)

All Time List
In Order of Most Nominations, then Wins
(if you see an error below, please notify me )
 
#
COUNTRY
Nominations
Wins
 
01
FRANCE
36
9
+ 3 honoraries before category began
02
ITALY
27
10
+ 2 honoraries before category began
03
SPAIN
19
4
04
SWEDEN
16
3
05
GERMANY
16
3
06
RUSSIA
14
4
07
JAPAN
12
1
+ 3 honoraries before category began
08
CZECH...
9
3
09
HUNGARY
8
1
10
NETHERLANDS
7
3
 
11
ISRAEL
9
0
 
POLAND
8  
13
DENMARK
7
2
 
14
MEXICO
7
0
 
15
YUGOSLAVIA
6
0
 
16
SWITZERLAND
5
2
 
17
ARGENTINA
6
2
 
18
BELGIUM
5
0
 
GREECE
 
20
ALGERIA
4
1
CANADA
22
NORWAY
4
0
BRAZIL
24
TAIWAN
3
1
25
AUSTRIA
INDIA
3
0
26
SOUTH AFRICA
2
1
27
UNITED KINGDOM
2
0
HONG KONG
CHINA
30
BOSNIA
1
1
IVORY COAST
32
NICARAGUA
1
0
KAZAKHSTAN
PUERTO RICO
ICELAND
URUGUAY
VIETNAM
CUBA
GEORGIA
MACEDONIA
IRAN
FINLAND
PALESTINE
PERU
NEPAL

 

Good Luck Charms 1947 - 2008
Stars that have appeared in the most foreign film nominees and winners
since the Academy began to recognize foreign films

         
         

 

Beloved Foreign Auteurs (1947-2009)
International directors who have won the most Oscar love over the years while working outside of the English language.

         
Federico Fellini
ITALY
(1920-1993)

12 nominations | Honorary Oscar
plus
Foreign Film Winners
and Foreign Film Nominees


Fellini was recognized in writing, directing and producing. ___ of his films have been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film

Ingmar Bergman
SWEDEN
(1918-2007)

9 nominations | Irving Thalberg Award
plus
3 Foreign Film Nominees (all of them won) and 1 Best Picture nominee (Cries & Whispers... which was not nominated for foreign film)

Like Fellini, Bergman was been recognized in writing, directing and producing. Persona, arguably his greatest film, received zero Oscar nominations... despite their general appreciation of his work.

Akira Kurosawa
JAPAN
(1910-1998)

1 nomination | Honorary Oscar
plus
2 Foreign Film Nominees (+ 1 honorary winner before there was a category)

Kurosawa's sole regular Oscar nomination came from directing Ran (1985)

Pedro Almodovar
SPAIN
(born in 1949)

2 nominations | 1 Screenplay Oscar
plus
2 Foreign Film Nominations (1 win)

Spain's greatest filmmaker since Bunuel doesn't actually have much luck in the foreign film category. Spain has a complicated relationship with him and doesn't submit his films often to represent them. But Oscar voters his work.

Jan Troell
SWEDEN
(born in 1931)

2 nominations
plus
3 Foreign Film Nominees (1 of them, The Emigrants, was also a Best Picture nominee)

Troell's greatest Oscar success was The Emigrants (1971) during a period where Oscar really loved Scandinavian work. It received 4 nominations the year after it received (and lost) a Foreign Film nomination. They later changed the rules and now if you open after your foreign film nomination in the US you are not eligible for regular nominations. This year in 2010 that makes France's Un Prophete ineligible for any more awardage

 

 

Countries that regularly submit
that have not been nominated.
(not a complete list)

Countries that occasionally submit
that have not been nominated
(not a complete list)

Bulgaria
Chile
Colombia
Croatia
Korea
Luxembourg
Mongolia
Portugal
(I believe Portugal holds the record of most submissions without a nomination)


Philippines
Romania
Serbia
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Thailand
Turkey
Venezuela
Afghanistan
Albania
Armenia
Australia
Bangladesh
Bolivia
Chad
Costa Rica
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Fiji
Indonesia
Iraq
Kyrgyzstan
Malaysia
Morocco
Sinagpore
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Tunisia

Oscar Predictions 2009 | Oscar Discussions ~ Blog | Blog (all topics)