INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM AWARD CRITERIA FOR 96TH ACADEMY AWARDS

IFTA is the organisation which officially selects Ireland’s submission for consideration for the International Feature Film Award at the Oscars and liaises directly with AMPAS (the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences).

Any Irish (32 counties) film (feature, documentary or animation) that has predominantly (more than 51%) non-English language dialogue and released theatrically between 1 December 2022, and no later than 31 October 2023, and be first publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theatre for the profit of the producer and exhibitor.

The film must be advertised and exploited during its qualifying 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 qualifying theatrical release will not be eligible for Academy Awards consideration.

For films to meet theatrical exhibition requirements more easily, AMPAS will allow films to qualify outside the country of origin, provided the film is theatrically exhibited outside of the United States and its territories for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theatre for paid admission.

Filmmakers, members, distributors, industry and the public are invited to contact the Irish Academy office with information about titles which may be eligible; the international feature film criteria; the Selection Committee etc, via email office@ifta.ie 

Selection Committee

The Selection Committee, as per the AMPAS criteria, is composed of more than 50% filmmakers, artists and craftspeople from the field of motion picture, with a minimum of 5 Members including the Chairperson of the Committee and all members are Irish citizens. These members are selected based on their experience, expertise, and knowledge of Irish and international cinema. The committee's collective expertise ensures a fair and informed selection process. 

Committee members cannot have a professional relationship with any film considered for official selection.

All eligible films will be watched by all members of the Irish Selection Committee, who then attend a Virtual Selection Committee meeting to discuss all of the eligible titles, select a shortlist and, by secret ballot, vote for the film which will be submitted. 

The designated Irish Academy representative will then notify AMPAS of the Irish selection and inform the filmmakers.  The filmmakers will then be put in contact with AMPAS International feature film office directly to process the official entry for the selected film title by the deadline of 2 October 2023.

The rules for the Academy Awards are available on the AMPAS website here.

For more information about the Oscars and the International Feature Film Award, visit www.oscars.org