Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner “Fjord” has secured a pathway to eligibility in the international feature film category at the Oscars without needing a country to submit it.
Neon, which will distribute the film for theatrical release, confirms to Variety exclusively that “Fjord” meets the Academy’s requirements for non-English language submissions. The film features dialogue in English, Romanian, Norwegian and Swedish, it and meets the Academy’s mandate that a movie’s dialogue track be more than 50% in a language other than English with accurate and legible English subtitles. There was some uncertainty and speculation among critics and audiences who had seen the film at Cannes regarding the percentage of English spoken.
The qualification arrives courtesy of a significant rule change the Academy announced earlier this year. Films no longer need to be selected by a country’s official submission committee to compete for the international feature prize. Instead, a non-English-language title can qualify by winning a top prize at one of six approved festivals: the Golden Bear at Berlin, the Best Film Award at Busan, the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, the Platform Award at Toronto or the Golden Lion at Venice.
