This is a list of submissions to the 87th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has invited the film industries of a number of countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film every year since the award was created in 1956. [1] It is presented annually by the Academy to a feature-length film produced outside the United States with primarily non-English dialogue. [1] [2] The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process, reviewing all films submitted. [2]
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For the 87th Academy Awards, held on 22 February 2015, a submitted motion picture must be released theatrically in its respective country between 1 October 2013 and 30 September 2014. [2] Submission of a film does not automatically qualify it for the competition; AMPAS has the final word on eligibility, and has disqualified submissions in the past. One film was accepted from each country, with a deadline of 1 October 2014; the Academy published a list of eligible films eight days later. [3]
Eighty-three countries submitted films, with four countries entering for the first time. [3] [4] Mauritania submitted Timbuktu , directed by Abderrahmane Sissako; [5] Panama entered the documentary Invasion , directed by Abner Benaim; [6] Kosovo submitted Three Windows and a Hanging , directed by Isa Qosja; [7] and Malta entered Simshar , directed by Rebecca Cremona. [8]
The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles–based Academy members, viewed the original submissions between mid-October and 15 December 2014. [9] The group's top six choices, augmented by three selections by the Academy's Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist. [9] Seventy-six films were originally considered, and the nine finalists were shortlisted in mid-December. [9]
The list was narrowed down to five nominees by invited committees in New York, Los Angeles and (for the first time) London, who viewed three films a day from 9 to 11 January 2015 before casting their ballots. [9] The list of nominees was announced on 15 January 2015 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles. [10] They were Argentina's Wild Tales , directed by Damián Szifron; Estonia's Tangerines , directed by Zaza Urushadze; Mauritania's Timbuktu, directed by Abderrahmane Sissako; Poland's Ida , directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, and Russia's Leviathan , directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev. For the first time, the director's name would be engraved on the Oscar statuette in addition to the country name. [11] The winner was Poland's Ida, directed by Pawlikowski. [12]
