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

Bosnia and Herzegovina has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film^{[nb 1]} since 1994. 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] Bosnia and Herzegovina has submitted twenty films for consideration and two, Danis Tanović's No Man's Land and Jasmila Žbanić's Quo Vadis, Aida?, have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. No Man's Land went on to win the award at the 74th Academy Awards.^[4] Three other films directed by Tanović and one other directed by Žbanić have been submitted as the Bosnian entry. Many Bosnian actors and directors worked on films submitted by Yugoslavia prior to the breakup of the country in 1991.

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 Bosnia and Herzegovina 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		Director	Result
1994 (67th)	The Awkward Age[5]	Magareće godine	Bosnian, Serbo-Croatian	Nenad Dizdarević	Not nominated
2002 (74th)	No Man's Land[4]	Ničija zemlja	Bosnian, Serbo-Croatian, English, French, German	Danis Tanović	Won Academy Award
2003 (76th)	Fuse[6]	Gori vatra	Bosnian, Serbian, English	Pjer Žalica	Not nominated
2004 (77th)	Days and Hours[7]	Kod amidze Idriza	Bosnian		Not nominated
2005 (78th)	Totally Personal[8]	Sasvim lično	Serbian, English, Bosnian	Nedžad Begović	Not nominated
2006 (79th)	Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams[9]	Grbavica	Bosnian	Jasmila Žbanić	Not nominated
2007 (80th)	It's Hard to be Nice[10]	Teško je biti fin		Srđan Vuletić	Not nominated
2008 (81st)	Snow	Snijeg		Aida Begić	Not nominated
2009 (82nd)	Night Guards	Čuvari noći		Namik Kabil	Not nominated
2010 (83rd)	Cirkus Columbia[11]		Bosnian, English	Danis Tanović	Not nominated[12]
2011 (84th)	Belvedere[13]		Bosnian	Ahmed Imamović	Not nominated
2012 (85th)	Children of Sarajevo[14]	Djeca		Aida Begić	Not nominated
2013 (86th)	An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker[15]	Epizoda u životu berača željeza	Bosnian, Romani	Danis Tanović	Made shortlist[16]
2014 (87th)	With Mum[17]	Sa mamom	Bosnian	Faruk Lončarević	Not nominated
2015 (88th)	Our Everyday Life[18]	Naša svakodnevna priča		Ines Tanović	Not nominated
2016 (89th)	Death in Sarajevo[19]	Smrt u Sarajevu	Bosnian, French	Danis Tanović	Not nominated
2017 (90th)	Men Don't Cry[20]	Muškarci ne plaču	Bosnian	Alen Drljević	Not nominated
2018 (91st)	Never Leave Me[21]	Ne ostavljaj me	Arabic, Turkish	Aida Begić	Not nominated
2019 (92nd)	The Son[22]	Sin	Bosnian	Ines Tanović	Not nominated
2020 (93rd)	Quo Vadis, Aida?[23]		Bosnian, Dutch, English, Serbian	Jasmila Žbanić	Nominated[24]
2021 (94th)	The White Fortress[25]	Tabija	Bosnian, English	Igor Drljaca	Not nominated
2022 (95th)	A Ballad[26]	Balada	Bosnian	Aida Begić	Not nominated
2023 (96th)	Excursion[27]	Ekskurzija	Bosnian	Una Gunjak	Not nominated

Most Bosnian submissions have been films about life in the country after the Bosnian War of the 1990s, made by young directors: all but Begović and Žbanić were 41 or younger when their films were made. Black comedies Fuse and Night Guards, and dramas It's Hard To Be Nice, Grbavica, Days and Hours and Snow were all stories about life after the war. The 1994 nominee, The Awkward Age, was produced during the war, and tells the story of a Communist-era boarding school. The 2005 nominee, Totally Personal, is one of the few documentaries ever submitted for the Foreign Oscar award. All films were primarily in Bosnian. Other than No Man's Land and Quo Vadis, Aida?, none of the submitted Bosnian films have succeeded in getting an Oscar nomination, although Grbavica, winner of the Golden Bear at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival, was considered an early favorite.

Bosnia typically shortlists three films before announcing their candidate. Skies Above the Landscape was short-listed twice (the release date was changed) but failed to be selected both times.

Fuse, Grbavica, No Man's Land and Quo Vadis, Aida? are readily available in the West with English subtitles.^[28]

See also

• List of Yugoslav submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
• List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film
• List of Academy Award–winning foreign-language films

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. 24 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". 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. Connolly, Kate (27 March 2002). "Bosnia emerges from no man's land". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
5. Weiner, Rex (2 December 1994). "Foreign-language Oscar race swells to 57 pictures". Variety. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
6. "Record-Breaking 56 Countries in Competition for Oscar" (Press release). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 20 October 2003. Archived from the original on 24 October 2003. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
7. "50 Countries in Competition for Oscar" (Press release). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 22 October 2004. Archived from the original on 11 June 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
8. "58 Countries Vying for 2005 Foreign Language Film Oscar" (Press release). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 25 October 2005. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
9. Sneider, Jeff (19 October 2006). "Oscar race counts 61 countries". Variety. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
10. "A Record 63 Countries Vying For Best Foreign-Language Oscar Nod". Yahoo! Movies. 17 October 2007. Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
11. "Bosnia selects Cirkus Columbia; Bulgaria submits Eastern Plays for Oscars". Screendaily. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
12. "9 Foreign Language Films Continue to Oscar Race". oscars.org. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
13. "63 Countries Vie for 2011 Foreign Language Film Oscar". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
14. "Bosnia selects 'Children' for Oscar race". Variety. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
15. "Tanovićevi 'Berači željeza' bh. kandidat za Oskara". Radio Sarajevo. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
16. "9 Foreign Language Films Advance in Oscar Race". Oscars. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
17. "Oscars: Bosnia Selects 'With Mom,' Macedonia 'To the Hilt' for Foreign-Language Category". Hollywood Reporter. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
18. Petkovic, Vladan (20 August 2015). "'Our Everyday Life' enters Oscar race for Bosnia". Screendaily. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
19. Holdsworth, Nick (31 August 2016). "Oscars: Bosnia Selects 'Death in Sarajevo' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
20. Grater, Tom (18 August 2017). "Bosnia picks 'Men Don't Cry' for foreign language Oscar race". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
21. "Balkan Countries Select Their Oscar Hopefuls". Balkan Insight. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
22. Kozlov, Vladimir (9 September 2019). "Oscars: Bosnia and Herzegovina Selects 'The Son' for International Feature Film Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
23. "Movie Quo Vadis, Aida? is BH Candidate for Oscar". Sarajevo Times. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
24. Oganesyan, Natalie (15 March 2021). "Oscars 2021: The Complete Nominations List". Variety. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
25. "Film "Tabija" reditelja Igora Drljače bh. kandidat za Oskara". Nezavisne. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
26. ""Balada" Aide Begić je ovogodišnji bh. kandidat za nagradu Oscar". Akta News. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
27. "EKSKURZIJA Une Gunjak je ovogodišnji bosnskohercegovački kandidat za nagradu Oscar | Novosti". bhfilm.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 26 September 2023.
28. "Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDS & more". Archived from the original on 25 January 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2021.

External links

• The Official Academy Awards Database
• The Motion Picture Credits Database
• IMDb Academy Awards Page