“Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” Parasite director Bong Joon Ho proclaimed at the Golden Globes in 2020. And he’s absolutely right: Anyone complaining about the state of cinema today should open their minds to the possibilities of filmmaking around the world, and the diverse perspectives and styles therein.
The Academy Awards have gradually expanded their appreciation of world cinema in recent years, becoming less English-language-centric than they were in the beginning. While international films used to be a rarity for Best Picture, the Oscars have been nominating at least one film not in English in the top category every year since 2018.
Ahead, we take a look at some of the non-English language films that won Oscars outside of the International Feature Film category. The overall list is becoming too large to contain everything (thankfully), so we’re only including films that won at least one of the top 8 categories (picture, directing, acting, or screenplay), with all due respect to craft category winners like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006).
Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
Neon
Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall tells the story of a novelist named Sandra (Sandra Hüller) whose husband is found dead after an apparent fall from their French chalet. Sandra struggles to defend herself amid the complicated French legal system as we in the audience ponder whether the incident was an accident…or murder. Triet and her partner Arthur Harari won Best Original Screenplay for the film, and the former was also the first French woman (and ninth woman ever) to be nominated for Best Director. —Kevin Jacobsen
Roma (2018)
Carlos Somonte/Netflix
Alfonso Cuarón may have missed the top prize for Roma at the 2019 Oscars, but he completed the “Three Amigos” trifecta when he won Best Director for the highly personal film (rounding it out after his fellow compatriots, Mexican filmmakers Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, won previously). He became the first director in Oscar history to win in the category for directing an international film, with an additional win for Best Cinematography. —M.L.L.
La Vie en Rose (2007)
Everett Collection
Marion Cotillard became the first French actor to win an Oscar for a French-language role with her performance as legendary singer Édith Piaf in 2007’s La Vie en Rose. She was the rare actress to earn the acting nod without her film also being nominated for Best International Feature Film. The win launched Cotillard to international fame and made her a bona fide Hollywood star. —M.L.L.
Talk to Her (2002)
Everett Collection; Jesus Merida/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar won his first Oscar for his original script for 2002’s Talk to Her and earned an additional nomination for Best Director. The film follows two men who bond as they care for two women in comas. Highly regarded as one of the best films of its decade, it marked a then-career-high for Almodóvar. —M.L.L.
Life Is Beautiful (1998)
Everett Collection
Who can forget Roberto Benigni‘s big Oscar moment for Life Is Beautiful? In addition to his Best Actor win, he was so excited to accept the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film that he literally climbed over the chairs in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Benigni wrote, directed, and starred in the 1998 tale of a Jewish Italian bookshop owner who tries to shield his son from the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. —M.L.L.
A Man and a Woman (1966)
Everett Collection (2)
This 1966 French story of a young widow (Anouk Aimée) and widower (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who strike up a romance after meeting at their children’s boarding school was an awards darling, winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes the year it was released (just like Parasite). Pierre Uytterhoeven won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film, and it also won the top prize in the Best Foreign Language Film category. —M.L.L.
Divorce Italian Style (1962)
Courtesy Everett Collection (2)
This beloved Italian comedy was a major hit when it came to Oscar nominations, earning three nods — for Best Director (Pietro Germi), Best Actor (Marcello Mastroianni), and Best Original Screenplay. It ultimately won only for screenplay, earning an Oscar for the three-person writing team of Ennio De Concini, Pietro Germi, and Alfredo Giannetti. Despite being based on Giovanni Arpino’s novel Honour Killing, it won in the original screenplay category. It follows the story of Ferdinando (Mastroianni), who daydreams about disposing of his wife so he can marry the cousin with whom he’s in love. —M.L.L.
Two Women (1961)
Everett Collection
Sophia Loren made history as the first actor to win an Oscar for a foreign language performance for her role in 1961’s Two Women. Her Oscar success — which came for portraying a widow coping with war-torn Italy and her daughter’s rape — catapulted her to a new level of international fame, making her one of the biggest stars of the 1960s. —M.L.L.
The Red Balloon (1956)
Everett Collection (2)
This 1956 charming French fantasy of a young boy who finds a sentient red balloon earned its writer-director Albert Lamorisse the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It’s the only short film to win the Academy Award in that category — and the only narrative short to be nominated for anything besides Best Live Action Short. —M.L.L.
Marie-Louise (1944)
Everett Collection
This 1944 Swiss, German, and French film became the first international film to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Swiss screenwriter Richard Schweizer took home the statuette for this World War II tale, making him the first person to ever win an Oscar for a foreign language film. The category for international feature — then known as Best Foreign Film — wasn’t even officially created until 1956. —M.L.L.
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