List of Spanish submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
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Spain has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[nb 1] since the conception of the award. 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.[3] The award was created for the 1956 Academy Awards, succeeding the non-competitive Honorary Academy Awards which were presented between 1947 and 1955 to the best foreign language films released in the United States.[4]
As of 2023[update], twenty-one Spanish films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, four of which have won the award: Begin the Beguine in 1982, Belle Époque in 1993, All About My Mother in 1999 and The Sea Inside in 2004.[5] Among all countries that have submitted films for the award, Spain ranks third in terms of films that have won the award, behind Italy (ten awards) and France (nine awards) and tied with Japan (four awards), and third in terms of nominees, behind France (thirty-four nominations) and Italy (twenty-seven nominations).[6]
Since the 1980s, the Spanish submission has been decided annually by the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (known in English as the Spanish Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences or AACCE). Beginning in 2001, the academy has announced a three-film shortlist before announcing the winning Spanish film.
Film director José Luis Garci has represented Spain six times, achieving four nominations and one win. Pedro Almodóvar has represented Spain seven times, and has achieved three Oscar nominations, including one win. Carlos Saura has represented Spain five times.
All submissions were primarily in Spanish language, with the notable exceptions of That Obscure Object of Desire (French and Spanish), Black Bread (Catalan), Flowers (Basque), Summer 1993 (Catalan) and Alcarràs (Catalan).