Call for Entries: 98th Academy Awards International Film Award 2026

Entries are invited for the 98th Academy Awards International Film Award 2026. Each year, Telefilm Canada coordinates the Pan-Canadian Selection Committee and the process to determine which Canadian film will be submitted for the International Film Award competition at the Academy Awards™.

This committee will screen eligible films over the coming weeks and meet at the end of August to vote on which film will represent Canada in this prestigious competition. Note that the film submission to the Academy must be completed by October 1, 2025.

Eligibility for 98th Academy Awards

• Be a feature films (over 40 minutes) produced outside the United States with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track. Accurate, legible English language subtitles are required; 
• Narrative, animation and documentary feature films are eligible;
• Creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens, residents of CANADA or individuals with refugee or asylum status in CANADA.
• Must have been released in Canada between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025, and be first publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theater for the profit of the producer and exhibitor. The seven consecutive days of the theatrical release are required to occur in one venue;
• The film must be advertised and exploited during its qualifying theatrical release in a manner considered normal and customary to theatrical feature distribution practices. The film need not have been released in the United States.
• Films that, in any version, receive a nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution before their qualifying theatrical release will not be eligible for Academy Awards consideration. Nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution includes but is not limited to:
  • Broadcast and cable television
  • PPV/VOD
  • DVD distribution
  • Inflight airline distribution
  • Internet transmission

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Application

You will need to provide the following items in your submission. These items will be used to promote your film if it is selected by the Pan-Canadian jury to represent Canada in the International Film Award competition at the Academy Awards™.

• Downloadable screener Link to the film with English subtitles (Mandatory)
• Promotional still, high resolution, 300 DPI, Horizontal, without any writing or logo (Mandatory)
• EPK (Mandatory)
• Tailer, if available
• Film Poster, if available
• Downloadable link to the film trailer (Preferably with English subtitles), If available
• Downloadable link to a 3min excerpt of the film, if available

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