11 out of 71 Academy Foreign Language Film Submissions Are Directed by Women

For the 85th Academy Awards, a record-breaking 71 countries have submitted films to compete in the Foreign Language Film category. However, according to our research, only 11 of those 71 films are directed by women. Last year, women directed 10 out of the 63 films submitted. Granted, we don’t know yet which films will end up in the category, but Cate Shortland’s Lore, Rama Burshtein’s Fill the Void and Ursula Meier’s Sister are all garnering some buzz.

Side note both Palestine and Israel have submitted films directed by women.

Here are the women-directed films:

Armenia — If Only Everyone, directed by Natalya Belyauskene

Australia –Lore, directed by Cate Shortland

Bosnia and Herzegovina — Children of Sarajevo, directed by Aida Begic

Georgia — Keep Smiling, directed by Rusudan Chkonia

Israel — Fill The Void, directed by Rama Burshtein

Japan — Our Homeland, directed by Yang Yonghi

Palestine — When I Saw You, directed by Annemarie Jacir

Peru — The Bad Intentions, directed by Rosario Garcia-Montero

Singapore — Already Famous, directed by Michelle Chong

Slovak Republic — Made in Ash, directed by Iveta Grófová