Fourteen Latin American countries—including past winners Argentina, Chile, and Mexico—are vying for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards. This year’s submissions from the region are as diverse as Latin America itself, ranging from documentaries and historical dramas to sci-fi and witty comedies.
Uruguay’s candidate, The Door Is There / Hay una puerta ahí, a documentary by Juan Ponce de León and Facundo Ponce de León, was not included in the Academy’s final eligible list for consideration in the International Feature Film category. The filmmakers decided to withdraw the candidacy to avoid any conflict of interest, as one of the co-directors currently serves as the head of the Uruguayan Film Agency.
Venezuela initially submitted the documentary Children of Las Brisas / Niños de Las Brisas by Marianela Maldonado. However, the film was deemed ineligible as it had originally premiered on television. As a result, the South American country replaced its entry with Back to Life / Vuelve a la vida, directed by siblings Luis Carlos and Alfredo Hueck.
In addition to submissions from Latin American countries, two Latin American themed-films and co-productions have been submitted as contenders from two European countries: the coming-of-age drama Reinas by Klaudia Reynicke, will represent Switzerland and the queer Mexican narco musical Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard is France’s contender.
In total, Latin America has won the Academy Award for Best International Film (formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film) four times: the Argentine films The Official Story / La historia oficial by Luis Puenzo in 1986, and The Secret in Their Eyes / El secreto de sus ojos by Juan José Campanella in 2010; the Chilean film The Fantastic Woman / Una mujer fantástica by Sebastián Lelio in 2018; and more recently, Mexico won the Oscar with Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma in 2019.
The 2025 Academy Awards shortlist of 15 titles will be announced on December 17, followed by the final five nominations on January 17. The winners of this year’s Academy Awards will be announced on a telecast on Sunday, March 2.
Meet this year’s Latin American contenders:
ARGENTINA: KILL THE JOCKEY / EL JOCKEY
Kill the Jockey stars Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (120 Beats per Minute) as Remo Manfredini, a jockey whose self-destructive tendencies begin to eclipse his talent, jeopardizing both his career and personal life. After a life-threatening accident on race day, he vanishes, embarking on a transformative journey through the city, fleeing from both his identity and a dangerous criminal underworld. The film also features Úrsula Corberó, Mexican actor Daniel Giménez Cacho, and Chilean actress Mariana Di Girólamo.
Argentina is the only Latin American country to have won twice the Oscar for Best International Feature (previously known as Best Foreign-Language Film): in 1985 with Luis Puenzo’s The Official Story / La historia oficial and in 2009 with Juan José Campanella’s The Secret in Their Eyes / El secreto de sus ojos. In total, the South American country has nabbed seven nominations, more recently for Damian Szafrón’s Wild Tales / Relatos salvajes in 2014.
BOLIVIA: OWN HAND / MANO PROPIA
Own Hand, a social drama based on real events, addresses the issue of lynchings in the country, portraying a violent incident from 2013. The film is adapted from the award-winning chronicle Tribes of the Inquisition by journalist Roberto Navia, which had a profound impact on director Gory Patiño and inspired him to bring the story to the screen.
Starring Alejandro Marañón and Freddy Chipana, Own Hand follows the tragic events in the Tropics of Cochabamba, where a crowd executed a group of people wrongly accused of stealing a truck. Though the film is set in a fictional town, the problem of lynchings remains relevant in Bolivia, with a recent similar episode occurring in the very square where the original events took place. Although Bolivia has submitted 17 films for the International Feature category since 1995, the country has yet to secure a nomination.
BRAZIL: I’M STILL HERE / AINDA ESTOU AQUI
I’m Still Here, the latest film by acclaimed director Walter Salles and starring Fernanda Montenegro, Maeve Jinkings, Fernanda Torres, and Selton Mello, tells the true story of the Paiva family and their five children. In 1970s Rio de Janeiro, during the military dictatorship, former deputy Rubens Paiva was taken from his home by soldiers for interrogation and was never seen again. The search for the truth lasted 30 long years, but just as answers began to emerge, Eunice Paiva, his wife, began showing the first signs of Alzheimer's disease.
This marks the fourth time Salles has secured Brazil’s Oscar candidacy, following Exposure (1991), Central Station (1998), and Behind the Sun (2001). Salles aims to bring Brazil its fifth nomination, having already earned one for Central Station, which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, with its lead, Fernanda Montenegro, also receiving a Best Actress nomination.
CHILE: IN HER PLACE / EL LUGAR DE LA OTRA
In Her Place, the debut fiction film by acclaimed documentarian Maite Alberdi, is a gripping drama based on a true story. Set in Chile in 1955, the film follows a popular writer who murders her lover, captivating a shy secretary and sparking an unexpected connection between the two women. Despite their different backgrounds and professions, both women confront the complexities of being a woman in a society that renders them invisible.
Alberdi became the first woman from Chile to be nominated for an Oscar in 2021 for The Mole Agent / El agente topo and was nominated again this year for The Eternal Memory / La memoria infinita, both in the Best Documentary Feature category. This marks the second time the Chilean Film Academy has selected a film directed by Alberdi to represent the country in the Best International Feature competition, following The Mole Agent, which was shortlisted. Chile won the Oscar for Best International Feature in 2018 with Sebastián Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman / Una mujer fantástica, and the country earned a nomination in 2013 for Pablo Larraín’s No.
COLOMBIA: LA SUPREMA
La Suprema, the debut feature by Felipe Holguín Caro, follows Laureana, an Afro-Colombian teenager living in La Suprema, a town in the Colombian Caribbean erased from the country’s maps, where electricity has yet to arrive. When she discovers that her uncle, Anastasio Páez, will fight for the world boxing title in an event broadcast live on television, she tries to convince Efraín, Páez’s former trainer, to train her to box professionally. The biggest obstacle to her ambitions is her grandmother, Pabla, who—under the pretext of wanting to protect her—tries to impose her will.
Colombia earned its first and only Oscar nomination in 2015 with Ciro Guerra’s Embrace of the Serpent / El abrazo de la serpiente, and was shortlisted in 2018 with Birds of Passage /Pájaros de verano, also directed by Guerra, this time in collaboration with Cristina Gallego.
COSTA RICA: MEMORIES OF A BURNING BODY / MEMORIAS DE UN CUERPO QUE ARDE
Memories of a Burning Body, the sophomore feature film by director Antonella Sudasassi, follows Ana, Patricia, and Mayela, three women raised in a repressive era where sexuality was taboo, and their understanding of womanhood was shaped by unspoken rules and implicit impositions. Now, their fearless voices converge in a 65-year-old woman, who revisits a kaleidoscopic life filled with intertwined memories, secrets, and hidden desires.
Memories of a Burning Body marks Costa Rica’s 13th submission to the Academy Awards, though the Central American country has yet to receive a nomination.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: AIRE, JUST BREATHE / AIRE
The dystopian sci-fi drama Aire, Just Breathe, the fifth feature film by director Leticia Tonos, starring Sophie Gaëlle, Paz Vega, and Jalsen Santana, follows a biologist’s quest to save what’s left of humanity by using artificial intelligence to inseminate herself. Winner of The Fantastic Pavilion Award at Cannes, Aire, Just Breathe is set in the year 2147. In this dystopian future, men have been rendered sterile by a virus, pushing humanity to the brink of extinction. Tania, a biologist, seeks to inseminate herself with the help of VIDA, an AI system. Her mission takes a dramatic turn when Azarias, one of the last surviving men and a traveler with a dark past, unexpectedly arrives.
This is the fourth time Leticia Tonos has secured the Dominican Republic’s Oscar submission, following Love Child (2011), Cristo Rey (2014), and A State of Madness (2024). The Caribbean island nation has yet to earn its first Oscar nomination for Best International Feature.
ECUADOR: BEHIND THE MIST / AL OTRO LADO DE LA NIEBLA
Sebastián Cordero will represent the South American nation for the third time in the Best International Feature competition at the Oscars with his newest production, the documentary Behind the Mist. Cordero previously submitted Chronicles / Crónicas in 2004 and Such Is Life in the Tropics / Sin muertos no hay carnaval in 2016 as Ecuador's official Oscar entries.
In Behind the Mist, Cordero follows Ecuadorean climber Iván Vallejo during his ascent to the top of Mount Everest. However, as they climb higher, their visions of the film begin to diverge dramatically—and dangerously. In 1999, Vallejo became the first Ecuadorean to summit Mount Everest twice without supplemental oxygen. That same year, Cordero premiered his first film at the Venice Film Festival. Two decades later, they embark on a collaboration to document not just the ascent of a mountain, but also a career—a perilous and at times transcendental journey of self-discovery.
GUATEMALA: RITA
Rita, from Guatemalan writer-director Jayro Bustamante (Ixcanul, La Llorona), is a dark fantasy set in a magical realist world and based on the true story behind one of Guatemala’s most harrowing tragedies. While fleeing a neglectful household, thirteen-year-old Rita is placed in an oppressive state-run orphanage. Her arrival provides a glimmer of hope to the girls inside, who share a prophecy that an angel will appear to release them. Encouraged by one another, the girls plan an escape to claim their freedom and expose the orphanage’s abuses.
This marks the third time that Bustamante represented Guatemala at the Oscars after Ixcanul in 2016 and La Llorona in 2021, which was shortlisted in the Academy’s international feature film category.
MEXICO: SUJO
Sujo, directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, tells the story of a four-year-old boy, the beloved son of a murdered cartel gunman from a small Mexican town. Orphaned and in danger, Sujo narrowly escapes death with the help of his aunt, who raises him in the isolated countryside. Despite the hardship, poverty, and the constant peril tied to his father’s legacy, Sujo survives. As he enters his teens, a rebellious streak awakens within him, leading him to join the local cartel as a rite of passage. In his adulthood, Sujo tries to break free from the violence that has surrounded him, but his father’s past continues to haunt him, forcing him to confront a seemingly inevitable fate.
Mexico has earned nine Oscar nominations in the Best International Feature category, winning its first Oscar in 2019 with Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma. In recent years, the country has maintained a strong presence in the category, earning shortlist spots with Fernando Frías’ I’m No Longer Here, Tatiana Huezo’s Prayers for the Stolen, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, and Lila Avilés’ Tótem.
PANAMA: WAKE UP MOM / DESPIERTA MAMÁ
Wake Up Mom, the action-thriller and sophomore film directed, written, produced, and starred by Arianne Benedetti (Beyond Brotherhood), focuses on the odyssey a mother undertakes when her daughter mysteriously disappears, after suffering an accident in the town where they live. The rest of the cast features Erick Elías, Mila Romedetti, Ana Alejandra Carrizo, Abraham Pino, Chris Oberto, Ingrid De Ycaza, Andrés Morales, and Caio Mena.
Wake Up Mom is Panama's 11th entry for the Academy Awards. While Abner Benaim's drama Plaza Catedral reached the shortlist in 2021, the Central American nation has yet to secure a nomination.
PARAGUAY: THE LAST ONES / LOS ÚLTIMOS
The Last Ones, the debut feature by Sebastián Peña Escobar, is an unexpected blend of buddy comedy and road movie set in the forests of the Chaco region, presented in the form of an environmental documentary. The Last follows three skeptical ecologists—an ornithologist, an entomologist, and the director himself—on a journey to Paraguay’s last virgin forests, where they engage in passionate debates about the future of our species. As a massive wildfire threatens the area, the travelers confront the inevitability of their conclusions with irony and dark humor.
The Last marks Paraguay’s eighth Oscar submission, though the country has yet to secure a nomination. Previous entries, such as The Heiresses / Las herederas (2018) by Marcelo Martinessi, have garnered international acclaim, highlighting Paraguay's growing presence in global cinema. With The Last, Peña Escobar brings an urgent environmental message wrapped in a unique cinematic approach, further cementing Paraguay’s evolving contributions to the world of film.
PERU: YANA-WARA
Yana-Wara is Peru’s official entry for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards. The film was co-directed by Tito Catacora and the late Óscar Catacora, who passed away during production. The sibling filmmaking duo previously worked on the acclaimed 2017 film Wiñaypacha.
Yana-Wara premiered at the Lima Film Festival last year and was released theatrically in Peru this past April. It tells the story of Don Evaristo, who stands accused by the Communal Justice System of murdering his 13-year-old granddaughter, Yana-Wara. During the hearing, the tragic story of the girl unfolds, revealing how, after enduring gender violence, she began experiencing terrifying visions brought on by evil spirits from the forbidden places of the Andes.
VENEZUELA: BACK TO LIFE
Back to Life / Vuelve a la vida by the siblings, Luis Carlos and Alfredo Hueck, is based on a true story and follows the life-affirming journey of a teenager and his family after he is diagnosed with cancer. Set in 1996, the film tells the story of Ricardo, who returns to his home in Caracas after a year abroad in New York. His parents welcome him with a big party and plans for a family vacation, but Ricardo chooses to celebrate by traveling with his best friends along the beautiful Venezuelan coast. During the trip, Ricardo experiences a sudden, severe pain that changes his life and that of his family forever.
Venezuela has yet to receive an Oscar nomination. The country came closest in 2014 when Alberto Arvelo’s epic The Liberator / Libertador made the shortlist for Best International Feature.
