Orphan, the Laszlo Nemes directorial which had its world premiere in Venice Film Festival recently, has now been chosen as the official submission from Hungary for the best ‘International Feature Film’ category for the 98th Academy Awards that will take place in early 2026. 

Set in the late 1950s, Orphan (original title: Arva) tells the story of a young Jewish boy living in Budapest, growing up with glorified legends from his mother about his dead father, whose life takes a drastic turn when a brutish man arrives at their doorstep, claiming to his actual father.  Produced by Nemes alongside Ildiko Kemeny and Ferenc Szale of Pioneer Pictures and Mike Goodridge of Good Chaos, Orphan is Nemes’ third feature film after Son of Saul and Sunset.

Nemes has also co-written the screenplay in association with Clara Royer, who was his co-writer on both his previous features. Nemes is also reuniting with cinematographer Matyas Erdely, his collaborator on both his earlier films.

It is to be noted that Nemes is already an Academy award winner for his 2015 debut feature Son of Saul, which bagged the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ award after winning the Jury Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival 2015.

Earlier this month, Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice was selected as South Korea's official entry for 2026 Oscars. The shortlist of movies selected for the upcoming Oscars will be announced on December 16 while the final five will be revealed on January 22, 2026.