Golden Globe Award: Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language
The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured. In 1987, it was changed to Best Foreign Language Film, so that non-American English-language films are now considered for the Best Motion Picture awards. Additionally, this change makes American films primarily in another language eligible for this award, including winners like Letters from Iwo Jima and Minari as well as nominees such as Apocalypto, The Kite Runner, and In the Land of Blood and Honey.
Note that since the 1987 change in the criteria for this award, its eligibility criteria have been considerably broader than those for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known before 2020 as Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film). American films have never been eligible for this award, and even non-U.S. films had to have principal dialogue in a native (non-English) language of the submitting country until 2006.
Before 1974, the award was given only infrequently, and with several films being jointly honoured per year.
The most honored country in this category is the United Kingdom, with seven films honored. The most honoured countries after 1987 are Spain and France.
Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured. In 1987, it was changed to Best Foreign Language Film, so that non-American English-language films are now considered for the Best Motion Picture awards. Additionally, this change makes American films primarily in another language eligible for this award, including winners like Letters from Iwo Jima and Minari as well as nominees such as Apocalypto, The Kite Runner, and In the Land of Blood and Honey.
Note that since the 1987 change in the criteria for this award, its eligibility criteria have been considerably broader than those for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known before 2020 as Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film). American films have never been eligible for this award, and even non-U.S. films had to have principal dialogue in a native (non-English) language of the submitting country until 2006.
Before 1974, the award was given only infrequently, and with several films being jointly honoured per year.
The most honored country in this category is the United Kingdom, with seven films honored. The most honoured countries after 1987 are Spain and France.
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- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsLamberto MaggioraniEnzo StaiolaLianella CarellIn post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.1949
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsHideko TakamineItsuo WatanabeMakoto MiyagawaSchoolteacher Hisako Oishi forms an emotional bond with her pupils and teaches them various virtues, while at the same time worrying about their future.1954
- DirectorFrank A. CappelloStarsRussell CroweHelen SlaterEtsushi ToyokawaWhen an op goes wrong and FBI agent Zack's partner dies, his search for the one responsible takes him to a yakuza in Japan. A mob boss wants revenge for his son's death and Zack's his target.1954
- DirectorErnesto ArancibiaStarsZully MorenoCarlos ThompsonMona MarisMargarita, a French courtesan, experiences genuine love for first time, in the arms of much-younger Armand. It is an Argentine adaptation of a familiar Alexandre Dumas story, previously dramatized as La Traviata and Camille.1954
- DirectorHenry CorneliusStarsDinah SheridanJohn GregsonKay KendallTwo British couples pit their vintage automobiles against each other in an exciting cross-country race.1954
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsHenrik MalbergEmil Hass ChristensenPreben Lerdorff RyeFollows the lives of the Borgen family, as they deal with inner conflict, as well as religious conflict with each other, and the rest of the town.1955
- DirectorMichael CacoyannisStarsMelina MercouriGiorgos FoundasAlekos AlexandrakisProud, independent Stella, an unconventional Rebetico singer who cherishes her freedom, finds herself in an intense whirlwind romance. Everything points to a tragic ending, and in the aftermath of passion, there can be no winners.1955
- DirectorLaslo BenedekStarsHilde KrahlTherese GiehseUrsula HerkingAs Germany's fortunes in the latter part of World War II wane, several young boys, in their enthusiasm to do something "for the fatherland", volunteer to fight with the German army in the East. Horrified at the news that their children are to be sent to the Russian front, the boys' mothers begin a desperate effort to get their sons back.1955
- DirectorYoshirô KawazuStarsHiroshi AkutagawaChishû RyûKôji Shitara1955
- DirectorGottfried ReinhardtStarsHans AlbersAnnemarie DüringerMartin HeldBased on a play by Gerhardt Hauptmann, the film details a bittersweet May-December romance between ageing Mathias Clausen (Albers) and young, beautiful Inken Peters (Annemarie Dueringer).1956
- DirectorMichael CacoyannisStarsEllie LambetiDimitris HornEleni ZafeiriouAgainst the backdrop of a cloudless summer, love's unforeseen complications will entwine an Athenian writer, a morosely beautiful daughter, and a scorned local suitor. And then, calamity strikes. Can love redeem the sad girl in black?1956
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsAkira IshihamaKatsuo NakamuraSadako SawamuraA young man ignores his mother's pleas and becomes drawn to a life of crime.1956
- DirectorKing VidorStarsAudrey HepburnHenry FondaMel FerrerNapoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia, including his disastrous 1812 invasion, serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.1956
- DirectorErik BlombergStarsMirjami KuosmanenKalervo NissiläÅke LindmanA newlywed woman goes to the local shaman to get some help with her love life, but instead she gets turned into a white reindeer vampire.1956
- DirectorKurt HoffmannStarsHorst BuchholzLiselotte PulverIngrid AndreeConfessions of impostor Felix Krull.1957
- DirectorIsmael RodríguezStarsMaría FélixPedro InfanteAndrés SolerA white woman enters into a romance with a Mexican Indian. The racial barriers between the lovers prove to be insurmountable, resulting in tragedy.1957
- DirectorHeinosuke GoshoStarsChikage AwashimaYûnosuke ItôKinuyo TanakaThis is the story of Kiyoshi Yoshida, who feels estranged from both parents after his father returns from war. How the boy adapts to life with the virtual stranger his father has become is the film's focus.1957
- DirectorFrançois VilliersStarsPascale AudretCharles BlavetteHenri AriusOld Félix, a prosperous land owner in Haute Provence, will be expropriated because a dam is being built on the River Durance and his estate is to be flooded. He receives thirty million francs in compensation but dies soon after. Hortense, his only daughter, inherits the money but the trouble is that Félix has hidden the loot somewhere and it is nowhere to be found. All of Hortense's next of kin suddenly take an interest in the "poor orphan" and those greedy ones - with the exception of kind-hearted uncle Simon - put pressure on the girl, and try - through wile, threat and even murder, to inveigle her inheritance. But however young and frail Hortense is, she is nobody's fool.1958
- DirectorGiuseppe De SantisStarsSilvana PampaniniEleonora Rossi DragoMassimo GirottiThe plot is set in an underdeveloped and remote area of a fictitious country, where the locals try to build an asphalt road in spite of careless attitude of the Government. The story follows the adventures in their self-reliant mission that lasts a whole year.1958
- DirectorRolf ThieleStarsNadja TillerPeter van EyckCarl RaddatzWest Germany in '50s is becoming an economic superpower. In such climate, Rosemarie is just one of many enterpreneurs who wants her piece of new fortune. She uses her charms to bring members of West German industrial elite to her bed. There she finds business secrets and later sells them to French competition. However, when scandal errupts, Rosemarie would find that she can't beat the system.1958
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsVictor SjöströmBibi AnderssonIngrid ThulinAfter living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.1959
- DirectorBernhard WickiStarsVolker BohnetFritz WepperMichael HinzIn 1945, Germany is being overrun, and nobody is left to fight but teenagers.1959
- DirectorMarcel CamusStarsBreno MelloMarpessa DawnLourdes de OliveiraA retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.1959
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsMachiko KyôGanjirô NakamuraJunko KanôA man getting on in years sets out to find a way to resurrect his flagging virility.1959
- DirectorKurt HoffmannStarsJohanna von KoczianHansjörg FelmyWera FrydtbergThe movie explains Germany from 1913 until 1955 by example of two contrary characters: The idealistic journalist Hans (H.-J. Felmy) loses his work during the Third Reich, whereas opportunist Bruno (R. Graf) makes career to himself in the NSDAP party. After World War II ended, Bruno manages to be indispensable to the US administration and becomes a successful and well respected businessman, despite his Nazi-past. At the same time, Hans tries to earn a living on the countryside. But one day a time will come when both men will meet again.1959
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowBirgitta ValbergGunnel LindblomIn 14th-century Sweden, an innocent yet pampered teenage girl and her family's pregnant and jealous servant set out from their farm to deliver candles to church, but only one returns from events that transpire in the woods along the way.1960
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsBrigitte BardotPaul MeurisseCharles VanelA liberated small-town girl and the family's black sheep moves to Paris with her sister, only to find herself standing trial for the shocking murder of her young lover. Was his killing premeditated or was this a crime of passion?1960
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsSophia LorenJean-Paul BelmondoRaf ValloneIn WWII Italy, a widow and her lonely daughter seek distance between themselves and the horrors of war.1961
- DirectorPietro GermiStarsMarcello MastroianniDaniela RoccaStefania SandrelliA married Sicilian baron falls in love with his cousin and vows to wed her, but with divorce illegal he must concoct a crime of passion to do away with his wife.1962
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsJean GabinAlain DelonClaude CervalA career con artist reunites with his wife but has already planned his next move: one daring last heist that will set him up for life. However, there is no such thing as a foolproof plan.1963
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsSophia LorenMarcello MastroianniAldo PuglisiWealthy businessman Domenico and penniless prostitute Filumena share a large part of their lives in post-WWII Italy.1964
- DirectorEphraim KishonStarsTopolGeula NuniGila AlmagorThe sharp, often hilarious satire that became the most successful film in Israeli history (until that time) is about new immigrants Sallah and his family, who are left in a shack near their promised apartment and are abandoned for months. A Yemenite Jewish family that was flown to Israel during "Operation Magic Carpet" - a clandestine operation that flew 49,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel the year after the state was formed - is forced to move to a government settlement camp. The patriarch of the family, portrayed by Chaim Topol, tries to make money and get better housing, in a country that can barely provide for its own and is in the midst absorbing hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Arab countries.1964
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsGiulietta MasinaSandra MiloMario PisuVisions, memories, and mysticism all help a 40-something woman to find the strength to leave her cheating husband.1965
- DirectorClaude LelouchStarsAnouk AiméeJean-Louis TrintignantPierre BarouhA widow and a widower find their relationship developing into love, but their past tragedies prove hard to overcome, causing them to proceed with utmost delicacy.1966
- DirectorClaude LelouchStarsYves MontandCandice BergenAnnie GirardotThe bitter relationships between a journalist and his women.1967
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsLyudmila SavelevaVyacheslav TikhonovSergey BondarchukThe Russian aristocracy prepares for the French invasion on the eve of 1812.1968
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsYves MontandIrene PapasJean-Louis TrintignantThe public murder of a prominent politician and doctor amid a violent demonstration is covered up by military and government officials. A tenacious magistrate is determined not to let them get away with it.1969
- DirectorRené ClémentStarsCharles BronsonJill IrelandMarlène JobertA US Army colonel in France tries to track down an escaped sex maniac.1970
- DirectorSergio RossiStarsLou CastelMarino MaséPaola PitagoraIn order not to go hungry, as has happened to his family members, a young southern man enlists in the police where he learns to use violence and to hate anyone who opposes the established order. But his girlfriend does not share his ideas and abandons him.1971
- DirectorJan TroellStarsMax von SydowLiv UllmannEddie AxbergSmåland, Sweden, mid-19th century. A farming family struggle with their rocky, unyielding land, and decide to embark on the arduous journey to new hope in America.1972
- DirectorJan TroellStarsMax von SydowLiv UllmannEddie AxbergA Swedish immigrant family struggle to establish a new life for themselves in the forest of Minnesota in the mid 19th Century.1972
- DirectorMaximilian SchellStarsGustav Rudolf SellnerPeter HallMaximilian SchellWhen a German businessman causes a car accident with deadly consequences, the papers start digging into his past to find scandals. What they find causes him to reevaluate his own past during WW2 when he was in Greece.1973
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsLiv UllmannErland JosephsonBibi AnderssonScenes from a Marriage chronicles the many years of love and turmoil that bind Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson) through matrimony, infidelity, divorce, and subsequent partners.
- DirectorJán KadárStarsYossi YadinLen BirmanMarilyn LightstoneA Jewish boy grows up in 1920s Montreal with a grandfather who tells stories and a father who won't work.1975
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsLiv UllmannErland JosephsonAino TaubeTwo psychiatrists have their marriage tested when one suffers a mental breakdown.1976
- DirectorEttore ScolaStarsSophia LorenMarcello MastroianniJohn VernonTwo neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler's visit to Italy in May 1938.1977
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsIngrid BergmanLiv UllmannLena NymanA devoted wife is visited by her mother, a successful concert pianist who had little time for her when she was young.1978
- DirectorÉdouard MolinaroStarsUgo TognazziMichel SerraultClaire MaurierThe manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and his star attraction, are a gay couple. Madness ensues when his straight son brings home a fiancée and her ultra-conservative parents to meet them.1979
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsNastassja KinskiPeter FirthLeigh LawsonA strong-willed young peasant girl attracts the affection of two men.1980
- DirectorHugh HudsonStarsBen CrossIan CharlesonNicholas FarrellTwo British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.1981
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsBen KingsleyJohn GielgudRohini HattangadiThe life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.1982
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsBertil GuvePernilla AllwinKristina AdolphsonTwo young Swedish children in the 1900s experience the many comedies and tragedies of their lively and affectionate theatrical family, the Ekdahls.1983
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJudy DavisVictor BanerjeePeggy AshcroftCultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator.1984
- DirectorLuis PuenzoStarsNorma AleandroHéctor AlterioChunchuna VillafañeDuring the final months of Argentinian Military Dictatorship in 1983, a high school teacher sets out to find out who the mother of her adopted daughter is.1985
- DirectorFons RademakersStarsDerek de LintMarc van UchelenMonique van de VenA Dutch doctor, haunted by grueling childhood memories of World War II, struggles to find peace as he spends his life looking for answers about the tragic night that shaped him.1986
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsAnton GlanzeliusTomas von BrömssenAnki LidénIn the late '50s, young Ingemar learns a lot about life and himself when he is sent away from his sick mother to live with his aunt and uncle in a town full of eccentrics.1987
- DirectorBille AugustStarsPelle HvenegaardMax von SydowErik PaaskeWhen his wife dies, Lasse takes his 12-year-old son, Pelle, from their home in Sweden to Denmark in search of a better life.1988
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsPhilippe NoiretEnzo CannavaleAntonella AttiliA filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.1989
- DirectorJean-Paul RappeneauStarsGérard DepardieuAnne BrochetVincent PerezFamed swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane. He has never expressed his love for her as he his large nose undermines his self-confidence. Then he finds a way to express his love to her, indirectly.1990
- DirectorAgnieszka HollandStarsSolomon PerelMarco HofschneiderRené HofschneiderA boy in Nazi Germany, trying to conceal that he is Jewish, joins the Hitler Youth.1991
- DirectorRégis WargnierStarsCatherine DeneuveVincent PerezLinh-Dan PhamEliane adopts Camille, whose Vietnamese parents were friends. In 1930, a French navy officer is interested in Eliane (owns 60km2 plantation) and later in Camille. There's an uprising in Vietnam against French colonial power.1992
- DirectorKaige ChenStarsLeslie CheungFengyi ZhangGong LiTwo boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.1993
- DirectorGérard CorbiauStarsStefano DionisiEnrico Lo VersoElsa ZylbersteinThe story of castrato opera singer Carlo Broschi, who enthralled 18th-century European audiences under his stage name Farinelli.1994
- DirectorClaude LelouchStarsJean-Paul BelmondoMichel BoujenahAlessandra MartinesA variation on Victor Hugo's classic novel by means of the story of a man whose life is affected by and somewhat duplicated by the Hugo story of the beleaguered Jean Valjean.1995
- DirectorJan SverákStarsZdenek SverákAndrey KhalimonLibuse SafránkováA confirmed bachelor is in for the surprise of his life when a get-rich-quick scheme backfires and leaves him with a pint-sized new roommate.1996
- DirectorAlain BerlinerStarsGeorges Du FresneMichèle LaroqueJean-Philippe ÉcoffeyLudovic is an innocent seven-year-old child who provokes horror in his community when he dresses in girls clothes and insists he's a girl.1997
- DirectorWalter SallesStarsFernanda MontenegroVinícius de OliveiraMarília PêraThe emotive journey of a former schoolteacher who writes letters for illiterate people, and a young boy whose mother has just died, as they search for the father he never knew.1998
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsCecilia RothMarisa ParedesCandela PeñaA comedy-drama about a bereaved mother, and overwrought actress, her jealous lover, and a pregnant nun.1999
- DirectorAng LeeStarsChow Yun-FatMichelle YeohZiyi ZhangA young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.2000
- DirectorDanis TanovicStarsBranko DjuricRene BitorajacFilip SovagovicBosnia and Herzegovina during 1993 at the time of the heaviest fighting between the two warring sides. Two soldiers from opposing sides in the conflict, Nino and Ciki, become trapped in no man's land, whilst a third soldier becomes a living booby trap.2001
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsRosario FloresJavier CámaraDarío GrandinettiTwo men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.2002
- DirectorSiddiq BarmakStarsMarina GolbahariZubaida SaharKhwaja NaderAfter the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the restriction of women in public life, a pre-teen girl is forced to masquerade as a boy in order to find work to support her mother and grandmother.2003
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsJavier BardemBelén RuedaLola DueñasThe factual story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a 28-year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die.2004
- DirectorHany Abu-AssadStarsKais NashifAli SulimanLubna AzabalTwo childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.2005
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsKen WatanabeKazunari NinomiyaTsuyoshi IharaThe story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.2006
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsMathieu AmalricEmmanuelle SeignerMarie-Josée CrozeThe true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body; only his left eye isn't paralyzed.2007
- DirectorAri FolmanStarsAri FolmanRon Ben-YishaiRonny DayagAn Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.2008
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsChristian FriedelErnst JacobiLeonie BeneschStrange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible?2009
- DirectorSusanne BierStarsMikael PersbrandtTrine DyrholmMarkus RygaardThe lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.2010
- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsPayman MaadiLeila HatamiSareh BayatA married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.2011
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsJean-Louis TrintignantEmmanuelle RivaIsabelle HuppertGeorges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.2012
- DirectorPaolo SorrentinoStarsToni ServilloCarlo VerdoneSabrina FerilliJep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.2013
- DirectorAndrey ZvyagintsevStarsAleksey SerebryakovElena LyadovaRoman MadyanovIn a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.2014
- DirectorLászló NemesStarsGéza RöhrigLevente MolnárUrs RechnA Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp prisoner sets out to give a child he mistook for his son a proper burial.2015
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsIsabelle HuppertLaurent LafitteAnne ConsignyA successful businesswoman gets caught up in a game of cat and mouse as she tracks down the unknown man who raped her.2016
- DirectorFatih AkinStarsNuman AcarAdam BousdoukosDiane KrugerKatja's life collapses after the deaths of her husband and son in a bomb attack. After a time of mourning and injustice, Katja seeks revenge.2017
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsYalitza AparicioMarina de TaviraDiego Cortina AutreyA year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.2018
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoLee Sun-kyunCho Yeo-jeongGreed and class discrimination threaten the newly-formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.2019
- DirectorLee Isaac ChungStarsSteven YeunHan YeriAlan KimA Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.2020
- DirectorRyûsuke HamaguchiStarsHidetoshi NishijimaTôko MiuraReika KirishimaA renowned stage actor and director learns to cope with a big personal loss when he receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima.2021
- DirectorSantiago MitreStarsRicardo DarínGina MastronicolaFrancisco BertínA team of lawyers takes on the heads of Argentina's bloody military dictatorship during the 1980s in a battle against odds and a race against time.