Call for Azerbaijani filmmakers – 99th Academy Awards (Oscars®️) – Submissions for the International Feature Film category
The Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan is accepting film submissions to determine Azerbaijan’s official selection in the International Feature Film category of the 99th Academy Awards.
National submission deadline: 15 July 2026.
The Azerbaijan Selection Committee will select one film as the country’s official submission for the International Feature Film award.
Eligibility requirements
• Running time: The film must be feature-length (over 40 minutes).
• Country of production: The film must be produced outside the United States, specifically in Azerbaijan.
• Language: The original dialogue track and the completed picture must be predominantly (more than 50%) in a language or languages other than English. Accurate, legible English subtitles are required.
• Genre: Fiction, animated and documentary films are accepted.
• Creative control: Creative control of the film must have been largely in the hands of citizens or residents of Azerbaijan, or of individuals with refugee or asylum status in Azerbaijan.
• Theatrical release: The film must be first released in Azerbaijan no earlier than 1 October 2025 and no later than 30 September 2026, and must be shown for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial cinema.
• Advertising: The theatrical release must be advertised and exploited in a manner normal and customary for theatrical distribution. Supporting evidence must be provided.
• Prior exhibition: Films that, in any version, received a non-theatrical public exhibition or distribution before their qualifying theatrical release are not eligible. This includes broadcast and cable television, pay-per-view/VOD, DVD or streaming, in-flight distribution and internet transmission.
• Festival screenings: Screenings at film festivals do not count as the qualifying theatrical release.
Films must also comply with all other eligibility rules of the 99th Academy Awards. A link to the Academy Awards rules is attached (PLEASE READ THE RULES IN FULL).
Academy rules and materials:
99th Academy Awards – International Feature Film Award Rules
Submission Requirements Checklist – International Feature Film
Academy Awards Rules & Eligibility (general rules and Campaign Promotional Regulations)
Materials required for the national selection
• Screener link to the film with English subtitles
• High-resolution publicity still (300 dpi, landscape, no text or logos)
• Electronic Press Kit (EPK)
• Proof of the qualifying theatrical release (cinema, release dates and published advertisements)
SUBMISSION TO THE ACADEMY
1. Each country or region is invited to submit its best film to the Academy. The selection must be made by one approved organization, jury or committee, at least 50% of whose members must be artists and/or craftspeople from the field of motion pictures. The list of committee members must be submitted to the Academy no later than 14 August 2026. Countries submitting for the first time, or that have not submitted in the past five years, must submit their committee list and application materials for Academy approval by 31 December 2026 to be eligible in the following (100th) Awards year.
2. Only one film will be accepted from each country or region as the official selection. The selected film should be submitted to the Academy as early as possible.
Materials to be submitted to the Academy (no later than 5:00 p.m. PT, Wednesday, 30 September 2026):
• Scanned copy of the signed International Feature Film entry form
• Complete cast and crew credits (the full opening and closing credits as shown on screen, in English)
• Director’s biography (in English) and photo
• Published advertisements verifying the seven-day theatrical run
• Streaming file for the Academy Screening Room, English closed-caption file and horizontal display artwork
• Secure, password-protected link to the film with burned-in English subtitles
Films that advance to the shortlist must submit one 35mm or 70mm print or one DCP of the film, subtitled in English, after the shortlist is announced.
VOTING
The International Feature Film nominations are determined in two rounds of voting:
• Preliminary round: Active and life members of the Academy may opt in. Those who opt in must view a minimum number of the eligible submitted films. The 15 films receiving the most votes in a secret ballot form the shortlist.
• Nominations round: Members who have viewed all 15 shortlisted films vote for up to five. The five films receiving the most votes become the nominees.
• Final round: Only active and life members who have viewed all five nominated films may vote.
• The Oscar statuette is awarded to the film and accepted by the director on behalf of the film’s creative team. The director’s name appears on the statuette plaque after the film title and, where applicable, the country or region.
CAMPAIGN AND PROMOTION REGULATIONS
All participants are also bound by the Academy’s Awards Campaign Promotional Regulations and are subject to the penalties set out in them (oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility).
ELIGIBILITY IN OTHER CATEGORIES
• International Feature Film submissions may also be submitted for the 99th Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they comply with the rules of those categories.
• Animated films may also be eligible for Animated Feature Film, and documentaries for Documentary Feature Film, subject to the rules of those categories.
• A film submitted in the International Feature Film category for the 99th Academy Awards is not eligible in other categories in a subsequent year, nor may it have been submitted in other categories in a previous year.
Submission and contact information
Eligible films must be sent no later than 15 July 2026 to the Azerbaijan Selection Committee, which operates under the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan:
Address: 30 Bulbul Avenue, AZ1014, Baku, Azerbaijan
Email: [email protected]
Selection process
The independent National Selection Committee will review all submitted films and will convene in August 2026 to determine Azerbaijan’s official submission. The selected film will be submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences no later than 5:00 p.m. PT on 30 September 2026.
Requirements for the formation and work of the Committee:
• Professionals with at least 10 years of experience in film may be nominated.
• The Committee will maintain balance in age, gender, experience, ethnicity and professional field.
• The majority of Committee members must be film professionals (the Academy requires at least 50% to be artists and/or craftspeople from the field of motion pictures).
• The Committee must have at least 5 members, including the Chair. There is no maximum.
• All members must be citizens of Azerbaijan.
• Committee members must have no professional connection to any submitted film.
• Members may serve for a maximum of six years, consecutive or cumulative, after which they must take a two-year break. After the break they may rejoin the Committee.
Candidates’ applications will be assessed by industry experts, and the proposed Committee list will be submitted to the Academy for approval. Once the Academy has approved it, the selected members will receive a formal invitation.
Depending on the number of films, the Committee will view them at dedicated screenings and vote according to the evaluation criteria. Once viewing is complete, the film will be selected by secret ballot and submitted to the Academy.
12 May 2026
