El Salvador has selected Arturo López Rodas’s debut feature Vértices as its official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards, marking the first time the Central American country has entered the Oscar race in the category.
The historic selection comes after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially recognized CINESAL (Comité Cine Nacional de El Salvador) earlier this year as the country’s selection committee. Following its first formal call for entries, the committee selected Vértices from five Salvadoran productions submitted for consideration.
Written and directed by López Rodas, Vértices follows three old friends who reunite at the funeral of a mutual friend after nearly 30 years apart. What begins as a cup of coffee to catch up on old times develops into an intimate reflection on friendship, loss, the passage of time, and the inevitability of death.
The 60-minute drama stars Francisco Martínez, Francisco Graniello, and Ángel Flamenco. López Rodas’s feature debut has already earned recognition on the festival circuit, winning Best Screenplay at the 2025 Ícaro International Film Festival and Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Cobb International Film Festival in Georgia.
The film is set to continue its international run later this month at the AFI Latin American Film Festival in Silver Spring, Maryland, with screenings on September 28 and 29, including a Q&A with López Rodas following the first screening. Vértices will also receive a theatrical release in El Salvador beginning September 24 at Cinemark La Gran Vía.
While Vértices marks El Salvador’s first official entry in the Best International Feature Film category, the country already holds a historic place in Academy Awards history. In 1977, Salvadoran filmmaker Andre Guttfreund shared the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film with Peter Werner for In the Region of Ice, becoming the first—and to date only—Central American filmmaker to win an Academy Award.
The shortlist for the 99th Academy Awards is scheduled to be announced on December 15, with nominations to follow on January 21, 2027. The 99th Oscars will take place on March 14, 2027.
