Costa-Gavras directed Z (1969), the first film submitted by Algeria and to win the award.

Algeria has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[nb 1] since 1969. 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] It 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]

As of 2021, four Algerian films have been nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and one of these films, Costa-Gavras' Z, has won the award.[5] The other two directors to have Algerian films accepted as nominees are Ettore Scola and Rachid Bouchareb. Scola's Le Bal was accepted as a nominee at the 56th Academy Awards.[6] Bouchareb has had three films nominated: Dust of Life at the 68th Academy Awards, Days of Glory at the 79th Academy Awards and Outside the Law at the 83rd Academy Awards. [7]

A running theme in the Algerian submissions has been the relationship between Algeria (and its citizens) and its former colonial power, France. Salut Cousin! and Inch'Allah Dimanche follow the lives of recent Algerian immigrants in France, while Cheb follows a young man who returns to his native Algeria and many years studying in France. Three others take a historical look at relations; La Dernière image tells the story of a young French schoolteacher who arrives in a small town under the control of Vichy France at the start of World War II, while the Oscar-nominated Indigènes follows a cadre of Algerian soldiers who fight in the French army during the same war. Chronique des années de braise shows the beginning of Algeria's war of independence from France through the eyes of a peasant.

Four other films- dramas Sandstorm, Autumn: October in Algiers and Rachida, plus comedy Mascarades tell more contemporary tales of Algerian life.

Four other Algerian submissions actually had little direct connection with the country. Z had a Greek-French director, while Le Bal was directed by an Italian, and neither film took place in Algeria. Rachid Bouchareb's Dust of Life followed a group of Amerasian children living in a refugee camp near Vietnam, while Little Senegal took place among illegal immigrants from Africa living in New York City.

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.[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 Algeria for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.

Year
(Ceremony)		 Film title used in nomination Original title Language(s) Director Result
1969
(42nd) 		Z French, Russian, English Costa Gavras Won Academy Award[8]
1975
(48th) 		Chronicle of the Years of Fire وقائع سنين الجمر Algerian Arabic, French Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina Not nominated
1982
(55th) 		Sandstorm رياح رملية French, Arabic Not nominated
1983
(56th) 		Le Bal No dialogue Ettore Scola Nominated[9]
1987
(60th) 		The Last Image La dernière image French Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina Not nominated
1991
(64th) 		Cheb French, Arabic Rachid Bouchareb Not nominated
1994
(67th) 		Autumn: October in Algiers Automne... Octobre à Alger Malik Lakhdar-Hamina Not nominated
1995
(68th) 		Dust of Life Poussières de vie French, Vietnamese Rachid Bouchareb Nominated[10]
1996
(69th) 		Hi Cousin! Salut cousin! French, Arabic Merzak Allouache Not nominated
2000
(73rd) 		Little Senegal Wolof, English, French, Arabic Rachid Bouchareb Not nominated
2001
(74th) 		Inch'Allah Dimanche إن شاء الله الأحد Arabic, French Yamina Benguigui Not nominated
2002
(75th) 		Rachida Yamina Bachir Chouikh Not nominated
2006
(79th) 		Days of Glory بلديون Rachid Bouchareb Nominated[11]
2008
(81st) 		Masquerades مسخرة Lyès Salem Not nominated
2009
(82nd) 		London River French, English Rachid Bouchareb Disqualified
2010
(83rd) 		Outside the Law خارجون عن القانون French, Arabic Nominated[12]
2012
(85th) 		Zabana![13] زبانة Arabic, French Said Ould Khelifa Not nominated
2015
(88th) 		Twilight of Shadows[14] غروب الظلال Arabic Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina Not nominated
2016
(89th) 		The Well[15] Le puits French Lotfi Bouchouchi Not nominated
2017
(90th) 		Road to Istanbul[16] La Route d'Istanbul Rachid Bouchareb Not nominated
2018
(91st) 		Until the End of Time[17] إلى آخر الزمان Arabic Yasmine Chouikh Not nominated
2019
(92nd) 		Papicha[18] بابيشة Algerian Arabic, French Mounia Meddour Not nominated
2020
(93rd) 		Héliopolis[19][20] هيليوبوليس Djaâfar Gacem Withdrawn
2021
(94th) 		Not nominated
2022
(95th) 		Our Brothers[21] Nos frangins French Rachid Bouchareb Not nominated

See also

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. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Academy Announces Rule Changes For 92nd Oscars". Forbes. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Rule Thirteen: Special Rules for the Foreign Language Film Award". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  4. ^ a b "History of the Academy Awards - Page 2". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  5. ^ Mackay, Mairi (26 July 2008). "Legend Costa-Gavras shoots new film on home turf". CNN. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  6. ^ "Ettore Scola - Awards". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  7. ^ "Rachid Bouchareb - Awards". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  8. ^ "The 42nd Academy Awards (1970) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  9. ^ "The 56th Academy Awards (1984) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  10. ^ "The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  11. ^ "The 79th Academy Awards (2007) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  13. ^ Vourlias, Christopher (27 September 2012). "'Zabana!' to carry Algeria Oscar hopes". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  14. ^ "81 Countries In Competition For 2015 Foreign Language Film Oscar". AMPAS. 9 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2 November 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  15. ^ Salazar, Francisco (11 September 2016). "Oscar 2017 Predictions: 'The Well' will Represent Algeria at the Oscars". Latin Post. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  16. ^ "Rachid Bouchareb représentera finalement l'Algérie aux Oscars 2018". dia-algerie. 19 September 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  17. ^ Holdsworth, Nick (17 September 2018). "Oscars: Algeria Selects 'Until the End of Time' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Oscars: Algeria Submits Papicha, Kicking Off International Feature Film Race". Deadline Hollywood. 12 July 2019. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  19. ^ "Djaâfar Gacem's Héliopolis shortlisted for Oscar best international film 2021". Algeria Press Service. 18 October 2020. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  20. ^ "Héliopolis de Djaâfar Gacem en compétition pour l'Oscar du meilleur film international". APS. 21 October 2021. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  21. ^ "Le film de Rachib Bouchareb « Nos frangins » représentera l'Algérie aux Oscars 2023". DIA. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.

External links

Algerian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film submissions
Academy Awards
Categories