The Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFMA) is hailing new rules announced on Friday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences pertaining to the international feature category as a “major victory.”
Going forward the Oscars are allowing submissions from individual directors, not just entries designated by selection committees in different countries.
The new rules that will go into effect for the 99th Oscars set for 2027 state that there are now two ways to submit a film for consideration. In addition to a film being submitted as an official selection by a country or region via the Academy-approved selection committees in each country, a non-English language film can now be submitted by winning a qualifying award at selected major international film festivals. The qualifying festivals ad wards for the 99th Oscars are: the Berlin International Film Festival (Golden Bear for Best Film); Busan International Film Festival (Busan Award – Best Film Award); Cannes Film Festival (Palme d’Or); Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize); Toronto International Film Festival (Platform Award) and Venice International Film Festival (Golden Lion).
“These reforms will meaningfully benefit independent filmmakers worldwide, especially those living under autocratic regimes who have previously been blocked from national submissions [by politically controlled selection committees],” IIFMA – which claims to represent hundreds of members of Iran’s dissident film community – noted in a statement.
Recent standout cases that IIFMA had brought to light through formal letters to the Academy and by organizing panels to expose eligibility problems include last year’s Palme d’Or winner Jafar Panahi, whose “It Was Just an Accident” was not submitted by Iran, given his long-standing conflicts with the country’s government. France ultimately stepped in as a friendly third-country submitter. That same workaround was used a year earlier when Germany submitted Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”
The issue had also been raised directly by Panahi in an interview with Variety in which the Iranian auteur stated: “I think the real problem lies within the Academy rules,” noting that “The Academy is the only cultural entity that makes filmmakers around the world depend on their governments.”
“When filmmakers send their films to festivals they don’t have to rely on any government institutions. The Academy rules work for countries with democratic governments but not for countries with despotic regimes. If I want to compete at the Oscars, I have to make a film that complies with the taste and the styles of the government for them to even show it in Iran,” Panahi lamented in the August 2025 interview.
IIFMA in its statement called the rule change still “not perfect” since restricting eligibility to major festival winners “remains inequitable for many truly independent makers,” it said.
Nevertheless, they open a vital path forward, the org. continued.
“There is still room for improvement, but this is an important step, and we are very pleased with the progress. We thank the Academy for listening and taking action.”
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