List of Soviet submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

Sergei Bondarchuk was the first Soviet director to win the award, for War and Peace .

The Soviet Union submitted films for the American Academy Award for Best International Feature Film ^{[nb 1]} between 1963 and 1991. The Foreign Language Film award is handed out annually by the U.S.-based 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]

Each year, the Academy invites countries to submit their best films for competition, with only one film being accepted from each country. ^[3] The Soviet Union had a strong record in the category, receiving a total of nine nominations between 1968–1984, including three winners – War and Peace , Dersu Uzala and Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears . Eight of the nominees, including all three winners, were produced by Russian film studios. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, films representing the Russian Federation won a further seven nominations, including one Oscar win for Burnt by the Sun . ^[4]

Submissions

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 the Soviet Union for review by the Academy since 1963. All Soviet submissions were filmed in Russian except for 1987's Georgian language Repentance.

Among the submissions were two films that sat on the shelf for several years awaiting approval from Soviet censors (1987–1988), a Japanese co-production (1975) and a documentary (1981). During the Soviet era, it was routine for productions to have cast and crew from throughout the country. However, each republic had its own film studios, and the "Republic of Production" indicates the republic of the film studio that produced the film. However, even outside of the Russian SFSR films were still produced in Russian, except for 1987 when the Soviet Union was nearing its collapse.

Year (Ceremony)	Film title used in nomination	Russian title	Director	Republic of production	Result
1963 (36th)	My Name is Ivan	Иваново детство	Andrei Tarkovsky	Russian SFSR	Not nominated
1968 (41st)	War and Peace	Война и мир	Sergei Bondarchuk		Won Academy Award [5]
1969 (42nd)	The Brothers Karamazov	Братья Карамазовы	Kirill Lavrov, Ivan Pyryev & Mikhail Ulyanov		Nominated [6]
1971 (44th)	Tchaikovsky	Чайкoвский	Igor Talankin		Nominated [7]
1972 (45th)	The Dawns Here Are Quiet	А зори здесь тихие	Stanislav Rostotsky		Nominated [8]
1973 (46th)	Liberation	Освобождение	Yuri Ozerov (director)		Not nominated
1974 (47th)	The Ferocious One	Лютый	Tolomush Okeyev	Kirghiz SSR   Kazakh SSR	Not nominated
1975 (48th)	Dersu Uzala	Дерсу Узала	Akira Kurosawa	Russian SFSR	Won Academy Award [9]
1976 (49th)	They Fought for Their Country	Они сражались за родину	Sergei Bondarchuk		Not nominated
1977 (50th)	The Ascent	Восхождение	Larisa Shepitko		Not nominated
1978 (51st)	White Bim Black Ear	Белый Бим Черное ухо	Stanislav Rostotsky		Nominated [10]
1979 (52nd)	Autumn Marathon	Осенний марафон	Georgiy Daneliya		Not nominated
1980 (53rd)	Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears	Москва слезам не верит	Vladimir Menshov		Won Academy Award [11]
1981 (54th)	O, Sport, You – the Peace!	О спорт, ты – мир!	Yuri Ozerov (director)		Not nominated
1982 (55th)	Private Life	Частная жизнь	Yuli Raizman		Nominated [12]
1983 (56th)	Vassa	Васса	Gleb Panfilov		Not nominated
1984 (57th)	Wartime Romance	Военно-полевой роман	Pyotr Todorovsky	Ukrainian SSR	Nominated [13]
1985 (58th)	Come and See	Иди и смотри	Elem Klimov	Byelorussian SSR   Russian SFSR	Not nominated
1986 (59th)	Wild Pigeon	Чужая белая и рябой	Sergei Solovyov	Russian SFSR	Not nominated
1987 (60th)	Repentance	Покаяние	Tengiz Abuladze	Georgian SSR	Not nominated
1988 (61st)	Commissar [ citation needed ]	Комиссар	Aleksandr Askoldov	Russian SFSR	Not nominated
1989 (62nd)	Zerograd	Город Зеро	Karen Shakhnazarov		Not nominated
1990 (63rd)	Taxi Blues	Такси-блюз	Pavel Lungin		Not nominated
1991 (64th)	Get Thee Out	Изыди!	Dmitriy Astrakhan		Not nominated

See also

• Moscow Strikes Back , 1942 Soviet documentary film, one of four winners at the 15th Academy Awards for Best Documentary
• List of Russian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Armenian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Azerbaijani submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Belarusian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Estonian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Georgian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Kazakhstani submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Kyrgyz submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Latvian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Lithuanian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Moldovan submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Tajik submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Ukrainian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Uzbekistani submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• Cinema of the Soviet Union
• List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best Foreign Language Film

Notes

1. The category was previously named the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but this was changed to the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in April 2019, after the Academy deemed the word "Foreign" to be outdated. ^{[1] [2]}

References

1. "Academy announces rules for 92nd Oscars". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
2. "Academy Announces Rule Changes For 92nd Oscars". Forbes. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
3. "Rule Thirteen: Special Rules for the Foreign Language Film Award" (PDF). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
4. "Foreign Language Film Facts". Academy Award Statistics. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. March 2007. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
5. "The 41st Academy Awards (1969) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 23 April 2018.
6. "The 42nd Academy Awards (1970) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 23 April 2018.
7. "The 44th Academy Awards (1972) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 23 April 2018.
8. "The 45th Academy Awards (1973) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 23 April 2018.
9. "The 48th Academy Awards (1976) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 23 April 2018.
10. "The 51st Academy Awards (1979) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 23 April 2018.
11. "The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 23 April 2018.
12. "The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 23 April 2018.
13. "The 57th Academy Awards (1985) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 23 April 2018.