Belgium has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film [nb 1] since 1967.[ citation needed ] 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 "Best Foreign Language Film" category was not created until the 1956 Academy Awards, in which a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since. [4] Between 1947 and 1955, the Academy presented a non-competitive Honorary Award for the best foreign language films released in the United States. [5]
As of 2023 [update] , eight Belgian films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Of these films, two have been directed by Gérard Corbiau: The Music Teacher and Farinelli . [6] The six other Belgian directors to have films accepted as nominees are Jacques Boigelot, Stijn Coninx, Dominique Deruddere, Michaël R. Roskam, Felix Van Groeningen and Lukas Dhont. Boigelot's Peace in the Fields was accepted as a nominee at the 43rd Academy Awards, [7] Stijn Coninx's Daens was a nominee in 1993, [8] Deruddere's Everybody's Famous! was a nominee at the 73rd Academy Awards, [9] Roskam's Bullhead for the 84th, Van Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown for the 86th, and Dhont's Close for the 95th.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1956. [4] The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award. [3] Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Belgium for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Cinema of Belgium refers to the film industry based in Belgium. Belgium is essentially a bi-lingual country divided into the Flemish (Dutch-speaking) north and the French-speaking south. There is also a small community of German speakers in the border region with Germany. Belgium is further a federal country made up of three regions and three language communities . Due to these linguistic and political divisions it is difficult to speak of a national, unified Cinema of Belgium. It would be more appropriate to talk about Flemish or Dutch-language cinema of Belgium and Walloon or French-language cinema of Belgium.
Jacques Boigelot was a Belgian film director and screenwriter. He was for many years the head of the French Belgian television film department. His film Paix sur les champs (1970) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Lukas Dhont is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. His debut feature film, Girl, premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Caméra d'Or and the Queer Palm awards. He was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2019. His second feature film, Close, premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where he shared the Grand Prix with Claire Denis' Stars At Noon. In 2023, Close was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film representing Belgium.