92nd Academy Awards of Merit International Film Award (Formerly Best Foreign Language Film)

Call for Entries

(Feature-length films)

Each year, Telefilm Canada coordinates the Pan- Canadian Selection Committee and the process to determine which Canadian film will be submitted for the International Film Award competition at the Academy Awards™. This committee will screen eligible films over the coming months and meet in September to vote on which film will represent Canada in this prestigious competition.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligible films who wish to compete for this honor must meet the Academy Awards criteria, including but not limited to:

• Must be predominantly in a language or languages other than English. (Accurate, legible English language subtitles are required);

• Must have been released in Canada between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019, and be first publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theater for the profit of the producer and exhibitor;
• Must be advertised and distributed during its theatrical release in a manner considered normal and customary to theatrical feature distribution practices;
• Films that, in any version, receive a nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution before their first qualifying theatrical release will not be eligible for Academy Awards consideration. Nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution includes but is not limited to:
  • Broadcast and cable television
  • PPV/VOD
  • DVD distribution
  • Inflight airline distribution
  • Internet transmission

Complete Rules and Regulations are available online.

1. Submitting your film to the Pan Canadian Selection Committee

Films that are interested in participating in the selection process must first complete the online application form.

Once Telefilm Canada has confirmed the films eligibility we will send the film’s primary contact instructions to send screeners to the delegates of the Pan Canadian Selection Committee.

Please note, the Selection committee well be asked to include the following criteria in their evaluation:

• • Selection at one of the festivals listed in Annexe A or
  • Having a US sales agent/distributor or International Sales agent

Annexe A – List of eligible Festivals

• Berlin International Film Festival
• Cannes Film Festival
• Sundance Film Festival
• Venice Film Festival
• Toronto International Film Festival
• Busan International Film Festival
• Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
• Locarno International Film Festival
• Rotterdam International Film Festival
• San Sebastian Film Festival
• Telluride Film Festival
• South by South West
• Tribeca Film Festival

2. Selection of the film that will represent Canada at the Academy Awards™

The film that will represent Canada in the International Film Award category at the Academy Awards™ will be selected during a conference call in mid to late September and announced the same day during a press conference in Montreal. Representatives of the selected film will be asked to attend and speak to media.

Following the announcement, the selected film will join submissions from other countries in the competition for the International Film Award.

3. REGISTERING YOUR FILM WITH TELEFILM CANADA

• Fill out the simplified Oscars 2020 form (use Chrome instead of Explorer) on our platform.

4. Contacts

If you have any questions please contact Ann-Marie Picard (ann-marie.picard@telefilm.ca or by phone 438-469-1242 or 1-800-567-0890)

Promotion and Communications
Telefilm Canada, Montréal
festivals@telefilm.ca
1 800 567-0890