Lebanon has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film [nb 1] since 1978. 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] As of 2021 [update] , Lebanon has submitted eighteen films for the award, with The Insult being the first film nominated for the award.
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. 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 Lebanon for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Year (Ceremony) | Film title used in nomination | French & Arabic titles | Director | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1998 (71st) | West Beirut | بيروت الغربية | Ziad Doueiri | Not nominated |
1999 (72nd) | Around the Pink House | البيت الزهري | Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige | Not nominated |
2002 (75th) | When Maryam Spoke Out | لمّا حكيت مريم | Assad Fouladkar | Not nominated |
2003 (76th) | The Kite | طيّارة من ورق | Randa Chahal Sabag | Not nominated |
2006 (79th) | Bosta | بوسطة | Philippe Aractingi | Not nominated |
2007 (80th) | Caramel | سكر بنات | Nadine Labaki | Not nominated |
2008 (81st) | Under the Bombs | تحت القصف | Philippe Aractingi | Not nominated |
2011 (84th) | Where Do We Go Now? [4] | و هلّق لوين | Nadine Labaki | Not nominated |
2013 (86th) | Blind Intersections [5] | قصة ثواني | Lara Saba | Not nominated |
2014 (87th) | Ghadi [6] | غدي | Amin Dora | Not nominated |
2015 (88th) | Void [7] | وينن | Tarek Korkomaz, Zeina Makki, Jad Beyrouthy, Christelle Ighniades, Salim Habr, Maria Abdel Karim, Naji Bechara | Not nominated |
2016 (89th) | Very Big Shot [8] | فيلم كتير كبير | Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya | Not nominated |
2017 (90th) | The Insult [9] | قضية رقم ٢٣ | Ziad Doueiri | Nominated [10] |
2018 (91st) | Capernaum [11] | کفرناحوم | Nadine Labaki | Nominated [12] |
2019 (92nd) | 1982 [13] | 1982 | Oualid Mouaness | Not nominated |
2020 (93rd) | Broken Keys [14] | مفاتيح مكسرة | Jimmy Keyrouz | Not nominated |
2021 (94th) | Costa Brava, Lebanon [15] | كوستابرافا | Mounia Akl | Not nominated |
2022 (95th) | Memory Box | دفاتر مايا | Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige | Not nominated |
Lebanon's submitted for the first time with Promise of Love, a US co-production in Armenian. Twenty years later, Lebanon began submitting Arabic language films on a regular basis, many of which also featured French.
Recent Lebanese history, particularly the country's wars and ethnic divisions, has been featured prominently in their national submissions. West Beyrouth is about friendship between Muslim and Christian teenagers during the 1975 Civil War, while Autour de la Maison Rouge deals with a community re-building itself afterwards. Under the Bombs takes place amidst the rubble of Lebanon's brief 2006 war with Israel while The Kite focuses on a once tight-knit community, split in two by the current Lebanese-Israeli border. Caramel, a comedy-drama about a women's beauty salon, and Bosta, a musical about a modern-day troupe of travelling musicians, were major box-office hits at home about close friends from different religious backgrounds. When Maryam Spoke Out did not fit the above profile, and instead featured a loving couple whose marriage is threatened by the wife's infertility.
Caramel, the first Lebanese film to get a major theatrical release in the United States, was often cited as a dark horse favorite for a nomination, but did not make it to the next stage.