Italian film body Anica has revealed the 24 films submitted as candidates to be Italy’s Best International Feature Film in the 98th Academy Awards.
A selection committee overseen by Anica will meet on September 23 to decide which film will be put forward as the country’s candidate.
Italy’s last submission was Maura Delpero’s World War Two drama Vermiglio, which was selected after winning the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize in Venice in 2024, and then made it as far as the shortlist.
A number of Italy’s candidates for the 2026 Best International Feature Film Oscar made their debut in competition at Venice this year including Gianfranco Rosi’s Below the Clouds, which won the Special Jury Prize.
Other submissions which debuted on the Lido include Pietro Marcello’s Duse, starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as the acting legend Eleonora Duse, and Leonardo Di Costanzo’s psychological drama Elisa.
Venice opener La Grazia by Paolo Sorrentino, who won the Best International Feature Film Oscar in 2013 for The Great Beauty, is not on the list due to its scheduled early 2026 release date. This is outside the required local release period – running from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025 – to be eligible for submission.
The list also features Mario Martone’s Cannes 2025 Palme d’Or contender Fuori, starring Valeria Golino as late Italian actress and writer Goliarda Sapienza whose autobiographical book L’Università di Rebibbia took inspiration from her time in jail.
Martone’s Naples-set drama Nostalgia was Italy’s entry in 2022 but was not nominated.
Candidates from outside the A-List festival circuit include Margherita Ferri’s teenage suicide drama The Boy with Pink Trousers which was the top grossing local production in Italy in 2024, as well as Andrea Segre’s Enrico Berlinguer biopic The Great Ambition and Cristina Comencini’s post-World War Two drama The Children’s Train. All three films world premiered at the Rome Film Festival last fall.
The full list of candidates in alphabetical order, film title and director.
The American Backyard, Pupi Avati
Below the Clouds, Gianfranco Rosi
The Boy With Pink Pants, Margherita Ferri
The Children’s Train, Cristina Comencini
The Great Ambition, Andrea Segre
Diamanti, Ferzan Özpetek
Diva Futura, Giulia Louise Steigerwalt
Duse, Pietro Marcello
Elisa, Leonardo Di Costanzo
Eterno Visionario, Michele Placido
Familia, Francesco Costabile
The Flood, Gianluca Jodice
Fuori, Mario Martone
Hey Joe, Claudio Giovannesi
Joachim and the Apocalypse, Jordan River
The Last One For The Road, Francesco Sossai
Madly, Paolo Genovese
Napoli – New York di Gabriele Salvatores
Il Nibbio, Alessandro Tonda
Siblings, Greta Scarano
The Sicilian Storyteller, Paolo Licata
The Tasters, Silvio Soldini
Trifole, Gabriele Fabbro
Vittoria, Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman
