Following last weekend’s Governors Awards, we now have another sign that Oscar season is moving into high gear with the release of official qualified entries named today by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for consideration in Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature Film, and International Feature Film.
A healthy Thirty-five features are eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards, meaning a full total of five nominees will be likely as long as all meet the requirements before the end of the year. Some of the films have not yet had their required qualifying release and must fulfill that requirement and comply with all the category’s other qualifying rules to advance in the voting process.
To determine the five nominees, members of the Animation Branch are automatically eligible to vote in the category. Academy members outside of the Animation Branch are invited to opt in to participate and must meet a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture although none have been in the past 14 years since Pixar films like Toy Story 3 and Up managed the feat respectively in 2010 and 2009. Previous to that only Beauty And The Beast was a Best Picture nominee in 1991, before the Animated Feature category was even created. Animated features that have been submitted in the International Feature Film category as their country’s official selection are also eligible in the category as was the case with the 2024 winner, Flow which was also an International Film nominee.
Two hundred one features are eligible for consideration in the Documentary Feature Film category this year.. Again, some of the films have not yet had their required qualifying release and must fulfill that requirement and comply with all the category’s other qualifying rules to advance in the voting process.
Documentary features that have won a qualifying film festival award or have been submitted in the International Feature Film category as their country’s official selection are also eligible in the category. Films submitted in the Documentary Feature Film category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture though none have ever been nominated to date. Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. The shortlist of 15 films will be announced on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, as well as short lists for Live Action and Animated Shorts.
Eighty-six countries or regions have submitted films that are eligible for consideration in the International Feature Film category which is not a record in the category formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes) produced outside the United States with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track. For instance Norway’s front running Sentimental Value has several scenes in English, mostly pertaining to co-star Elle Fanning’s significant role, but it did not time out to be more than half so the film is eligible here as well as in most other categories since any International entry that qualifies with at least a one week theatrical release can compete in regular categories where it applies. There are also several rule changes over the years that allow countries to submit films that may not be significantly, or at all, in the language of that country such as this year’s Iranian Cannes Palme d’Or winner, It Was Just An Accident which was submitted as the official French entry due to other reasons such as financing or residency of its filmmakers. The political nature of the film was felt to be a non-starter as a likely selection from Iran itself even though its director Jafar Panahi continues to live in Iran and the film is completely set in the country.
Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must meet a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. The shortlist of 15 films will also be announced on December 16.
98th Academy Awards preliminary voting for select categories will begin on Monday, December 8, 2025, and end on Friday, December 12, 2025.
Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
The 98th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
Here are all the films eligible for the 2026 Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature Academy Awards:
RELATED: Every Oscars Best Animated Feature Winner Since 2002
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
All Operators Are Currently Unavailable
Arco
The Bad Guys 2
Black Butterflies
Boys Go to Jupiter
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
ChaO
Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing
David
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Dog Man
Dog of God
Dragon Heart – Adventures Beyond This World
Elio
Endless Cookie
Fixed
Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie
In Your Dreams
KPop Demon Hunters
The Legend of Hei 2
Light of the World
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Lost in Starlight
A Magnificent Life
Mahavatar Narsimha
Night of the Zoopocalypse
Olivia & las Nubes
100 Meters
Out of the Nest
Scarlet
Slide
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Stitch Head
The Twits
Zootopia 2
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Abby’s List, A Dogumentary
Ada – My Mother the Architect
Afternoons of Solitude
The Age of Disclosure
Ai Weiwei’s Turandot
The Alabama Solution
All God’s Children
The Altar Boy, the Priest and the Gardener
Always
Amakki
American Sons
Among Neighbors
animal.
Antidote
Apocalypse in the Tropics
Architecton
Are We Good?
Art for Everybody
Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse
The Art Whisperer
Artfully United
Assembly
BTS ARMY: Forever We Are Young
Becoming Led Zeppelin
Being Eddie
Below the Clouds
Benita
Between the Mountain and the Sky
Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell’s Swimsuit Issue
Billy Idol Should Be Dead
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
Blum: Masters of Their Own Destiny
Bodyguard of Lies
Brothers after War
Can’t Look Away: The Case against Social Media
Caterpillar
Champions of the Golden Valley
Checkpoint Zoo
Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie
Child of Dust
Chronicles of Disney
Coexistence, My Ass!
Come See Me in the Good Light
Complicated
Cover-Up
Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution
Cutting through Rocks
Dalit Subbaiah
The Dating Game
Deaf President Now!
Democracy Noir
Diane Warren: Relentless
Dog Warriors
Drop Dead City
The Duel We Missed
El Canto de las Manos
Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire
The Encampments
Endless Cookie
Europe’s New Faces
Facing War
Fatherless No More
Fiume o Morte!
Folktales
Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea
For the Living
14 Short Films about Opera
From Island to Island
Ghost Boy
Girl Climber
Go to the People
Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus
Grand Theft Hamlet
Heaven. Poste Restente
Heightened Scrutiny
Holding Liat
I Know Catherine, the Log Lady
I, Poppy
I Was Born This Way
If You Tell Anyone
I’m Not Everything I Want to Be
I’m Only Blind
Imago
In Limbo
In Waves and War
In Whose Name?
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Janis Ian: Breaking Silence
The King of Color
The Last Class
The Last Holocaust Secret
The Last Philadelphia
The Last Twins
Li Cham (I Died)
The Librarians
Life After
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery – The Untold Story
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story
Love+War
Mahamantra – The Great Chant
The Man Who Saves the World?
A Man with Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
Meanwhile
Men of War
Mighty Indeed
Mr. Nobody against Putin
Mistress Dispeller
Monk in Pieces
My Armenian Phantoms
My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow
Natchez
The New Yorker at 100
Night in West Texas
1985: Heroes among Ruins – The Triumph of the People
Norita
Of Mud and Blood
One to One: John and Yoko
Orwell 2+2=5
Our Time Will Come
Out of Plain Sight
Paint Me a Road Out of Here
Paparazzi
The Parish of Bishop John
Pavements
The Perfect Neighbor
The Pool
Predators
Prime Minister
The Prince of Nanawa
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Rebel with a Clause
Remaining Native
Riefenstahl
Rise Up! 14 Short Films about Alliance for Positive Change
River of Grass
The Road between Us: The Ultimate Rescue
The Rose: Come Back to Me
Row of Life
Sanatorium
A Savage Art
Schindler Space Architect
Secret Mall Apartment
Seeds
Selena y Los Dinos
Sensory Overload
76 Days Adrift
Shari & Lamb Chop
The Shepherd and the Bear
Shoot the People
Shuffle
The Six Billion Dollar Man
67 Bombs to Enid
Slumlord Millionaire
Songs from the Hole
Soul of a Nation
Speak.
Stans
Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost
Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter
Story of My Village
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror
The Stringer
Suburban Fury
Sudan, Remember Us
Supercar Saints
Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted
The Tale of Silyan
Thank You Very Much
There Was, There Was Not
Third Act
This Ordinary Thing
Through the Fire (The Eaton Fire: The Aftermath)
Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on New York City Streets
Trade Secret
Trains
Twin Towers: Legacy
2000 Meters to Andriivka
Unbanked
UnBroken
Under the Flags, the Sun
Unseen Innocence
Viktor
Viva Verdi!
WTO/99
Walk with Me
Walls – Akinni Inuk
We Were Here – The Untold History of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe
Welded Together
The White House Effect
Who in the Hell Is Regina Jones?
Wisdom of Happiness
The Wolves Always Come at Night
Worth the Fight
Writing Hawa
Yalla Parkour
Yanuni
Zodiac Killer Project
RELATED: Oscars 2026 International Feature Film Submissions By Country – A List Of 91 Declared Submissions
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Albania, “Luna Park”
Argentina, “Belén”
Armenia, “My Armenian Phantoms”
Australia, “The Wolves Always Come at Night”
Austria, “Peacock”
Azerbaijan, “Taghiyev: Oil”
Bangladesh, “A House Named Shahana”
Belgium, “Young Mothers”
Bhutan, “I, the Song”
Bolivia, “The Southern House”
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Blum: Masters of Their Own Destiny”
Brazil, “The Secret Agent”
Bulgaria, “Tarika”
Canada, “The Things You Kill”
Chile, “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo”
China, “Dead to Rights”
Colombia, “A Poet”
Costa Rica, “The Altar Boy, the Priest and the Gardener”
Croatia, “Fiume o Morte!”
Czech Republic, “I’m Not Everything I Want to Be”
Denmark, “Mr. Nobody against Putin”
Dominican Republic, “Pepe”
Ecuador, “Chuzalongo”
Egypt, “Happy Birthday”
Estonia, “Rolling Papers”
Finland, “100 Liters of Gold”
France, “It Was Just an Accident”
Georgia, “Panopticon”
Germany, “Sound of Falling”
Greece, “Arcadia”
Greenland, “Walls – Akinni Inuk”
Haiti, “Kidnapping Inc.”
Hong Kong, “The Last Dance”
Hungary, “Orphan”
Iceland, “The Love That Remains”
India, “Homebound”
Indonesia, “Sore: A Wife from the Future”
Iran, “Cause of Death: Unknown”
Iraq, “The President’s Cake”
Ireland, “Sanatorium”
Israel, “The Sea”
Italy, “Familia”
Japan, “Kokuho”
Jordan, “All That’s Left of You”
Kyrgyzstan, “Black Red Yellow”
Latvia, “Dog of God”
Lebanon, “A Sad and Beautiful World”
Lithuania, “The Southern Chronicles”
Luxembourg, “Breathing Underwater”
Madagascar, “Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story”
Malaysia, “Pavane for an Infant”
Mexico, “We Shall Not Be Moved”
Mongolia, “Silent City Driver”
Montenegro, “The Tower of Strength”
Morocco, “Calle Malaga”
Nepal, “Anjila”
Netherlands, “Reedland”
North Macedonia, “The Tale of Silyan”
Norway, “Sentimental Value”
Palestine, “Palestine 36”
Panama, “Beloved Tropic”
Paraguay, “Under the Flags, the Sun”
Peru, “Kinra”
Philippines, “Magellan”
Poland, “Franz”
Portugal, “Banzo”
Romania, “Traffic”
Saudi Arabia, “Hijra”
Serbia, “Sun Never Again”
Singapore, “Stranger Eyes”
Slovakia, “Father”
Slovenia, “Little Trouble Girls”
South Africa, “The Heart Is a Muscle”
South Korea, “No Other Choice”
Spain, “Sirât”
Sweden, “Eagles of the Republic”
Switzerland, “Late Shift”
Taiwan, “Left-Handed Girl”
Tunisia, “The Voice of Hind Rajab”
Turkey, “One of Those Days When Hemme Dies”
Uganda, “Kimote”
Ukraine, “2000 Meters to Andriivka”
United Kingdom, “My Father’s Shadow”
Uruguay, “Don’t You Let Me Go”
Venezuela, “Alí Primera”
Vietnam, “Red Rain
RELATED: Oscars: Every Best Picture Winner Back To The Beginning In 1929
