Following the recent success of Cypriot cinema and its international recognition at major film festivals abroad, the Deputy Ministry of Culture wishes to begin the process of submitting a National Nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 99th Academy Awards ceremony.
A National Committee will be set up to select Cyprus' national nomination for the 2027 Academy Awards, which will be composed and operate as follows.
A. Establishment of a National Committee
The Cypriot Selection Committee for the Best Foreign Language Feature Film Award for the Academy Awards (Oscars) will consist of institutional and elected members who are directly involved in cinema, with at least half of the members being artists and/or other professionals from the film industry.
The Committee will consist of seven members in total:
- Four institutional members:
- The Chair of the Cinema Advisory Committee
- The Chair of the Cyprus Film Commission
- A representative of the Cyprus Directors' Union
- A representative of the Cinema Office of the Deputy Ministry of Culture
2. Three elected members: directors and/or other film industry professionals appointed by the Deputy Minister of Culture on an annual basis, based on the following criteria:
- Winners or nominees of Oscars and/or other internationally recognized awards.
- Winners of awards in the categories of Best Film (Producer), Best Director and/or Best Actor in the National Competition Section of the Cyprus International Film Festival, as selected by the festival's international jury.
All members of the National Committee must be Cypriot citizens and must not be involved in any way in a film that is eligible for selection during the year in question. Committee members may serve for six years (consecutively and/or cumulatively).
B. Review and Selection Process of the nominated film
The process for selecting the Cypriot national nomination is as follows:
- An open call to producers to submit nominations will be announced in due time. Nominations shall be submitted to the Cinema Office of the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture, which shall be the competent office for handling all relevant procedures for the national nomination. Submissions will be free of charge.
- The Cinema Office will review the eligibility of nominations against the Academy's regulations, which among others, require:
- Public commercial screening of the film in a professional cinema for a minimum period of seven consecutive days.
- The dialogue of the film must be predominantly (>50%) in a language or languages other than English. The submitted film must be subtitled in English.
- It must be a Cypriot production or Cyprus must be the majority country of production in the case of an international co-production.
Please find the Complete Rules for the Academy Awards HERE.
3. How to submit a film for consideration:
A film must be submitted in a downloadable link with burnt-in English subtitles via email at cinema@culture.gov.cy, with the subject title: “Cyprus – Oscar Nomination”. A list of main cast and crew, including production company(-ies) details, should be attached to the email.
4. The National Committee examines and evaluates the applications that have been deemed eligible in a joint meeting, based on the following criteria:
- The originality of the film's concept and development, the aesthetic, dramatic, and narrative adequacy of the screenplay, the well-rounded characters, and the overall artistic and technical excellence of the production.
- Participation in festivals and/or awards won by the candidate film.
- The commercial success of the candidate film and its wider reception by the public.
- Critical reception of the nominated film.
- The previous work of the Director/Producer/Screenwriter.
5. After the completion of the joint meeting, the selection committee members vote by a secret ballot.
6. Once the national nomination has been selected by the National Committee, the Cinema Office submits the film to the Academy.
7. A special committee of the Academy (International Feature Film Executive Committee), after reviewing the complete application file, approves the Cypriot national nomination and forwards it to the Academy for voting.
8. Upon approval by the Academy, the Deputy Ministry of Culture of Cyprus announces the national nomination to the media and the public for transparency and promotion purposes.
For enquiries please contact us at cinema@culture.gov.cy.
