What was the first non-English Language movie to win ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars?
The ‘Best Picture’ award at the Oscars has the primary function of deciding the “best” cinema has to offer that year, which is obviously a fucking joke at this point.
One of the most common complaints about the awards in general is that they centre too heavily on English-language movies, particularly those made in America. While some so-called ‘foreign’ films do break through, the numbers don’t look great.
The first movie not in English to be nominated for any sort of Oscar was À Nous la Liberté, thrown a bone by the American elitists for its ‘Art Direction’. The first film of that kind to actually win an award was Marie-Louise, a German-language movie that won ‘Best Original Screenplay’ in 1946.
‘Best Picture’ wouldn’t get a non-English contender until 1939, when the French masterpiece Grand Illusion competed against the likes of Pygmalion and You Can’t Take It with You, clearly superior to them but suffering the unfortunate fate of being filmed in a language that would require Americans to look at subtitles. The horror!
By the end of the 20th Century, only six films not in English had been up for the biggest prize in the game. The one that stood the best chance of winning was La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful), the Italian Holocaust drama that delivered Roberto Benigni the ‘Best Actor’ statuette. That worked out really well for him…
The first non-English Language film to win ‘Best Picture’
The 21st century is when things really begin to pick up steam. In 2007, two mostly non-English movies ended up in contention for ‘Best Picture’, those being Alejandro G Iñárritu’s Babel and Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima. However, it wouldn’t be another 13 years until one finally broke through. In a year that the Oscar chat was dominated by the likes of 1917, The Irishman, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the top gong surprisingly went to Bong Joon-ho’s terrifying tale of class inequality, Parasite.
The movie, which is primarily in Korean, had a bumper night at the 92nd Academy Awards. Not only did it win the big one, but it also landed Bong the ‘Best Director’ award over such competition as Martin Scorsese and Sam Mendes. Parasite took home ‘Best Original Screenplay’ as well, becoming the first non-English script to do so since Pedro Almodovar’s Talk to Her.
It became a global goddamn phenomenon, transcending language barriers to become one of the most talked-about Oscar winners in a very long time. It even caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who mocked its victory in a speech. Honestly, that probably did more for its popularity among certain audiences than any award ever could.
Since Parasite’s pleasantly shocking victory, no non-English movie has won ‘Best Picture’. There has been at least one nominated in the category every year, though. In 2024, there were three of them, although one of them was Past Lives, which is about 50/50 in terms of English and Korean dialogue. In 2025, Brazilian drama I’m Still Here was one of the strongest contenders of the pack. However, it was balanced out by Emilia Pérez, one of the worst ‘Best Picture’ nominees of all time.
Even if you think the Oscars are a load of shite, Parasite’s victory marked a landmark moment in world cinema. If a Korean-language, genre-blending, socialist-coded drama could win an Oscar, then anything could, regardless of whether it was in English or not.
