Finland has submitted thirty-five films for consideration in the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[nb 1] category. 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 Finnish Academy Awards submission is selected by an expert jury which is chosen by the Finnish Film Foundation.[4]

All films listed below were accepted by AMPAS, although two films- Drifting Clouds and Lights in the Dusk- were withdrawn by director Aki Kaurismäki after the films were sent to Hollywood in both 1996 and 2006. According to Mark Johnson, the chairman of the academy's foreign-language committee, he was told by the Finnish selection committee that Kaurismäki does not like film competitions.[5] Only one Finnish film has been nominated for the Foreign Film Oscar, The Man Without a Past, which is directed by Kaurismäki. Kaurismäki boycotted the Academy Awards ceremony as protest over the U.S. involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[5]

Because of Kaurismäki's withdrawals, Klaus Härö has represented Finland more than any other Finnish director - four times.

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.[6] 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 Finland for review by the academy for the award by the year of the submission and the respective Academy Award ceremony.

All films were in Finnish except for their 2000 submission Seven Songs from the Tundra which was in Nenets and 2011 submission Le Havre which was in French. Their 2003 & 2005 submissions were half in Swedish (also an official language of Finland), and their 1973 submission was in a Finnish dialect native to the Northern part of the country. The 2015 submission was in Estonian.

Year
(Ceremony)		 Film title used in nomination Title in the original language Director Result
1973
(46th) 		The Earth Is a Sinful Song Maa on syntinen laulu Rauni Mollberg Not nominated
1980
(53rd) 		Flame Top Tulipää Pirjo Honkasalo &
Pekka Lehto 		Not nominated
1981
(54th) 		Sign of the Beast Pedon merkki Jaakko Pakkasvirta Not nominated
1984
(57th) 		Pessi and Illusia Pessi ja Illusia Heikki Partanen Not nominated
1986
(59th) 		The Unknown Soldier Tuntematon sotilas Rauni Mollberg Not nominated
1987
(60th) 		The Snow Queen Lumikuningatar Päivi Hartzell Not nominated
1990
(63rd) 		The Winter War Talvisota Pekka Parikka Not nominated
1994
(66th) 		Ripa Hits the Skids Ripa ruostuu Christian Lindblad Not nominated
1995
(68th) 		The Last Wedding Kivenpyörittäjän kylä Markku Pölönen Not nominated
1996
(69th) 		Drifting Clouds Kauas pilvet karkaavat Aki Kaurismäki Disqualified[7]
1997
(70th) 		The Collector Neitoperho Auli Mantila Not nominated
1998
(71st) 		A Summer by the River Kuningasjätkä Markku Pölönen Not nominated
1999
(72nd) 		The Tough Ones Häjyt Aleksi Mäkelä Not nominated
2000
(73rd) 		Seven Songs from the Tundra Seitsemän laulua tundralta Anastasia Lapsui &
Markku Lehmuskallio 		Not nominated
2001
(74th) 		The River Joki Jarmo Lampela Not nominated
2002
(75th) 		The Man Without a Past Mies vailla menneisyyttä Aki Kaurismäki Nominated
2003
(76th) 		Elina: As If I Wasn't There Elina - Som om jag inte fanns Klaus Härö Not nominated
2004
(77th) 		Producing Adults Lapsia ja aikuisia - Kuinka niitä tehdään? Aleksi Salmenperä Not nominated
2005:
(78th) 		Mother of Mine Äideistä parhain Klaus Härö Not nominated
2006
(79th) 		Lights in the Dusk Laitakaupungin valot Aki Kaurismäki Withdrawn[8]
2007
(80th) 		A Man's Job Miehen työ Aleksi Salmenperä Not nominated
2008
(81st) 		The Home of Dark Butterflies Tummien perhosten koti Dome Karukoski Not nominated
2009
(82nd) 		Letters to Father Jacob Postia pappi Jaakobille Klaus Härö Not nominated
2010
(83rd) 		Steam of Life[9] Miesten vuoro Joonas Berghäll Not nominated[10]
2011
(84th) 		Le Havre[11] Le Havre Aki Kaurismäki Not nominated
2012
(85th) 		Purge[12] Puhdistus Antti Jokinen Not nominated
2013
(86th) 		Disciple[13] Lärjungen Ulrika Bengts Not nominated
2014
(87th) 		Concrete Night[14] Betoniyö Pirjo Honkasalo Not nominated
2015
(88th) 		The Fencer[15] Miekkailija Klaus Härö Made shortlist[16]
2016
(89th) 		The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki[17] Hymyilevä mies Juho Kuosmanen Not nominated
2017
(90th) 		Tom of Finland[18] Tom of Finland Dome Karukoski Not nominated
2018
(91st) 		Euthanizer[19] Armomurhaaja Teemu Nikki Not nominated
2019
(92nd) 		Stupid Young Heart[20] Hölmö nuori sydän Selma Vilhunen Not nominated
2020
(93rd) 		Tove[21] Tove Zaida Bergroth Not nominated
2021
(94th) 		Compartment No. 6[22] Hytti nro 6 Juho Kuosmanen Made shortlist[23]
2022
(95th) 		Girl Picture[24] Tytöt tytöt tytöt Alli Haapasalo 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. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Academy Announces Rule Changes For 92nd Oscars". Forbes. 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. ^ http://www.ses.fi/en/news_news.asp?id=2470[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ a b Selkokari, Antti (18 October 2006). "Kaurismaki turns off 'Lights' on Oscar bid". Variety.
  6. ^ "History of the Academy Awards - Page 2". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
  7. ^ Withdrawn by the director prior to its official screening
  8. ^ Withdrawn by the director prior to its official screening. Source: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117952175.html
  9. ^ "Steam Of Life Is Finnish Oscar Entry". nordiskfilmogtvfond. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  10. ^ "9 Foreign Language Films Continue to Oscar Race". oscars.org. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  11. ^ "63 Countries Vie for 2011 Foreign Language Film Oscar". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  12. ^ Holdsworth, Nick (19 September 2012). "Finland picks 'Purge' for Oscar contest". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  13. ^ "Finland Selects 'Disciple' as Oscar Candidate". Variety. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  14. ^ "Oscars: Balkans and Baltics Choose Submissions for Best Foreign-Language Film Race". Hollywood Reporter. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  15. ^ Holdsworth, Nick (1 September 2015). "Oscars: Finland Selects 'The Fencer' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  16. ^ "9 Foreign Language Films Advance In Oscar Race". Oscars. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  17. ^ Holdsworth, Nick (5 September 2016). "Oscars: Finland Selects 'The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  18. ^ Holdsworth, Nick (4 September 2017). "Oscars: Finland Selects 'Tom of Finland' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  19. ^ Holdsworth, Nick (4 September 2018). "Oscars: Finland Selects 'Euthanizer' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  20. ^ Roxborough, Scott (2 September 2019). "Oscars: Finland Selects 'Stupid Young Heart' for International Film Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  21. ^ "Zaida Bergrothin ohjaama Tove Suomen Oscar-ehdokkaaksi". Filmikamari. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  22. ^ "Juho Kuosmasen ohjaama Hytti nro 6 Suomen Oscar-ehdokkaaksi". Uutiset. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  23. ^ Davis, Clayton (21 December 2021). "Oscars Shortlists Include Beyoncé, 'Spider-Man' and Two Jonny Greenwood Scores as France's 'Titane' Is Snubbed". Variety. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  24. ^ "Tytöt tytöt tytöt Suomen Oscar-ehdokkaaksi". Suomen Filmikamari. Retrieved 13 September 2022.

External links

Academy Award for Best International Feature Film submissions
Academy Awards
Categories