The Philippines has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since the inception of the category in 1956. The award is given annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. The "Best Foreign Language Film" category was not created until 1956; however, between 1947 and 1955, the Academy presented a non-competitive Honorary Award for the best foreign language films released in the United States.

History

The Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) appoints a committee to choose one film among those released that year to be submitted as the Philippines's official entry to the Academy for a nomination for "Best International Feature Film" the following year. The chosen films, along with their English subtitles, are sent to the Academy, where they are screened for the jury. The 1953 biopic Genghis Khan was the first Philippine film submitted for consideration for the Honorary Foreign Language Film award, the precursor to the current category. From 1956 until the establishment of the FAP in 1981, only four films were submitted for consideration: Child of Sorrow (1956), The Moises Padilla Story (1961), Because of a Flower (1967), and Ganito Kami Noon... Paano Kayo Ngayon? (1976). After the FAP was founded, the Philippines submitted Of the Flesh in 1984 and This Is My Country in 1985, but made no further submissions until 1995's Harvest Home. Since then, the FAP has submitted a film in most years. No film was submitted in 2005; Leo Martinez, the director general of the FAP, revealed that the organization had not received an invitation from the Academy. In 2021, the FAP controversially chose not to send an entry as they lacked government funding due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Philippines has made 33 cumulative submissions to the category, but none have been nominated for an Oscar, the latest being the 2023 submission The Missing. Filmmakers Marilou Diaz-Abaya and Gil Portes have each represented the Philippines three times in this category, the most for any director, and including two consecutive films each: Diaz Abaya in 1997 and 1998, and Portes in 2001 and 2002. Brillante Mendoza, a recipient of the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director, directed the 2016 and 2020 submissions. Three films starring John Arcilla have been submitted by the Philippines. Joel Torre has co-starred in three films that were entries in 1984, 1985, and 2000. For films co-starring Joel Torre that were submitted as Philippine entries: For films starring Sid Lucero that were submitted as Philippine entries: For films starring Phillip Salvador that were submitted as Philippine entries: For films starring Vilma Santos that were submitted as Philippine entries: For films starring Jomari Yllana that were submitted as Philippine entries:

Submissions