The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[nb 1] since 1997. The Foreign Language Film 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] As of 2023[update], eighteen Luxembourgian films have competed for the Oscar, but none have yet been nominated.
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 Luxembourg 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 | Languages | Director | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 (70th) |
Women | Elles | French, Portuguese | Luís Galvão Teles | Not nominated |
| 1998 (71st) |
Back in Trouble | Luxembourgish, German | Andy Bausch | Not nominated | |
| 2002 (75th) |
Dead Man's Hand | Petites misères | French | Philippe Boon & Laurent Brandenbourger | Not nominated |
| 2003 (76th) |
I Always Wanted to Be a Saint | J'ai toujours voulu être une sainte | Geneviève Mersch | Not nominated | |
| 2005 (78th) |
Renart the Fox | Le Roman de Renart | Thierry Schiel | Not nominated | |
| 2006 (79th) |
Your Name is Justine | Masz na imię Justine | Polish, English | Franco de Pena | Disqualified [4] |
| 2007 (80th) |
Little Secrets | Perl oder Pica | Luxembourgish | Pol Cruchten | Not nominated |
| 2008 (81st) |
Nuits d'Arabie | French, Arabic, Luxembourgish | Paul Kieffer | Not nominated | |
| 2009 (82nd) |
Refractaire | Réfractaire | French | Nicolas Steil | Not nominated |
| 2013 (86th) |
Blind Spot[5] | Doudege Wénkel | Luxembourgish | Christophe Wagner | Not nominated |
| 2014 (87th) |
Never Die Young[6] | French | Pol Cruchten | Not nominated | |
| 2015 (88th) |
Baby(a)lone[7] | Luxembourgish | Donato Rotunno | Not nominated | |
| 2016 (89th) |
Voices from Chernobyl[8] | La supplication | French | Pol Cruchten | Not nominated |
| 2017 (90th) |
Barrage[9] | Laura Schroeder | Not nominated | ||
| 2018 (91st) |
Gutland[10] | Luxembourgish, German | Govinda Van Maele | Not nominated | |
| 2019 (92nd) |
Tel Aviv on Fire[11] | תל אביב על האש | Hebrew, Arabic | Sameh Zoabi | Not nominated |
| 2020 (93rd) |
River Tales[12] | Cuentos del río | Spanish | Julie Schroell | Not nominated |
| 2021 (94th) |
Io sto bene[13] | Italian, French, Luxembourgish | Donato Rotunno | Not nominated | |
| 2022 (95th) |
Icarus[14] | Icare | French | Carlo Vogele | Not nominated |
| 2023 (96th) |
The Last Ashes[15] | Läif a Séil | Luxembourgish | Loïc Tanson [lb] | Not nominated |
Because of Luxembourg's small size, most submitted films were co-productions with neighboring countries.
Two of Luxembourg's early submissions straddled AMPAS nationality guidelines. Helmed by a Portuguese director and set in Lisbon, Women (Elles) was filmed primarily in French, and featured a diverse lead cast from France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States, but not Luxembourg. Dead Man's Hand was a minority Luxembourg production, which actually represented Belgium at several film festivals.[16]
In 2006, AMPAS disqualified Your Name is Justine, arguing that Luxembourg did not have sufficient artistic control over the muilti-national film, which was directed by a Poland-based Venezuelan director, set in Germany and Poland, shot mostly in Polish and English but funded primarily by Luxembourg. The film was originally considered to represent Poland, but it failed to make Poland's four-film shortlist that year[17] and it was subsequently selected to represent Luxembourg.
Ever since the controversy of 2006, all of Luxembourg's Oscar submissions have been directed by native-born Luxembourgian directors, with the exception of "Tel Aviv on Fire" in 2019. "Tel Aviv", directed by Sameh Zoabi, a Palestinian director who holds Israeli citizenship, was one of five films shortlisted by Israel but ended up representing Luxembourg when Israel selected Incitement instead. Although set in Israel and the West Bank, "Tel Aviv" was filmed mostly in Luxembourg with a largely locally based crew and was accepted by AMPAS to represent AMPAS.
Of Luxembourg's 18 eligible submissions, two were animated films, and three were documentaries. About half the films were mostly in French, with only five dominantly in the national language, Luxembourgish.
The late Pol Cruchten represented the country three times, more than any other Luxembourgian director.
From 2010 to 2012, Luxembourg's Oscar Selection Committee met each year and announced that the country would not send a film due to a lack of suitable candidates.[18]
