The road to the Oscars is changing for one of the Academy's most internationally diverse categories. While countries continue to select films to represent them, this year's International Feature Film race is no longer restricted to a single route. The Academy has introduced a provision allowing certain films to enter the category independently after winning specified awards at major international film festivals.
That change adds another layer to an already crowded race. The qualifying festivals include Berlin, Busan, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto and Venice, with films winning designated awards at these festivals able to enter consideration without necessarily being selected as their country's official submission. The Academy has also changed how the category is credited, with the film itself now being listed as the nominee rather than the country or region.
India has now joined the growing field with a film rooted in Maharashtra's folk traditions. The Film Federation of India selected Santosh Davakhar's Marathi thriller Gondhal as the country's official entry for the 99th Academy Awards from a field of 33 submissions. The film is set during a traditional Gondhal ritual and follows a newly married woman caught in a dangerous web of desire, deception and fate.
India's selection comes as several established names in world cinema have already entered the international race. Romania has selected Cristian Mungiu's Fjord, while France has submitted Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur. Poland has chosen Paweł Pawlikowski's Fatherland. Other announced entries include Slovakia's Flood, Hungary's Silent Friend, South Korea's Possible Love and Japan's All of a Sudden. The list is continuing to expand as countries finalise their choices.
The presence of Mungiu, Zvyagintsev and Pawlikowski also gives this year's race a strong contingent of filmmakers who have previously been part of the Academy's International Feature conversation. Mungiu previously won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, while Pawlikowski won the International Feature Oscar for Ida and was also nominated for Cold War. Zvyagintsev has received multiple Oscar nominations in the category.
The new festival route could further complicate the traditional country-versus-country format. Under the Academy's revised rules, a film winning one of the specified awards at Berlin, Busan, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto or Venice can qualify independently. If such a film is later selected as its country's official submission, the national selection takes precedence.
The Academy has also altered the voting process around the category. The preliminary round will produce a 15-film shortlist, after which participating Academy members will watch all shortlisted titles before voting for the five nominees. The final winner will then be selected from those five. The submission window is still open, with the Academy setting September 30 as the deadline for International Feature Film entries. The final list is therefore expected to grow in the coming days.
For India, Gondhal now begins the next stage of the Oscar journey after emerging from a 33-film domestic selection process. The film will enter the wider international field before the Academy narrows the race to 15 titles in December and announces the five final nominees in January 2027. The 99th Academy Awards are scheduled to take place on March 14, 2027.