The Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language is a Golden Globe Award presented by Dick Clark Productions to reward theatrically-released feature film not in the English language.
It was first introduced at the 7th Golden Globe Awards for the 1949 film year as Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film, and would return to be awarded yearly from the 1957 film year onwards; from 1948 to 1972, it existed alongside the Best English-Language Foreign Film category, which was intended for English-language films made outside the United States. The two categories were fused into Best Foreign Film in 1973, now rewarding any non-American films regardless of language; this was reversed in 1986 when it was renamed to Best Foreign Language Film, although this last change also made American films in non-English language eligible, such as winners Letters from Iwo Jima and Minari. In 2022, the category was renamed Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language.
The award was originally an equivalent to the pre-existent Best English-Language Foreign Film, for English-language film made outside the United States.
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; films are notably not submitted by their country, and there is no limit of one-eligible film per country as in the Academy Awards. 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, followed by Spain and France.
Eligibility criteria Like the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, this award does not require that an eligible film be released in the United States. The official rules for the award state that submitted films must be at least 70 minutes in length and have at least 51% of their dialogue in a language other than English, and that they be "first released in their country of origin during the 14-months period from November 1 to December 31, prior to the Awards". Films that were not released in their country of origin due to censorship qualify with a one-week release in the U.S. during the specified period.
Dick Clark Productions (through its Golden Globes, LLC subsidiary), which took over the presentation of the Golden Globes from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) in 2024, continues the HFPA's practice of not limiting the number of submitted films from a given country. This differs from the practice of the Academy Awards' presenter, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which limits each country to one submission per year. See especially Rule 14, "Special Rules for the Foreign Language Film Award".
Best Foreign Film – English Language
Winners and nominations
1965–1972: Best Foreign Film – Foreign Language 1973–1985: Best Foreign Film 1986–present: Best Foreign Language Film
1940s YearEnglish titleOriginal titleDirectorCountry Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film 1949 Bicycle Thieves Ladri di biciclette Vittorio De Sica Italy The Fallen Idol Carol Reed United Kingdom
1950s YearEnglish titleOriginal titleDirectorCountry Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film 1954 Twenty-Four Eyes Nijushi no hitomi Keisuke Kinoshita Japan No Way Back Weg Ohne Umkehr Victor Vicas West Germany The Lady of the Camellias Raymond Bernard Argentina Genevieve Henry Cornelius United Kingdom 1955 The Word Ordet Carl Theodor Dreyer Denmark Stella Στέλλα Michael Cacoyannis Greece Children, Mother, and the General Kinder, Mutter und Ein General László Benedek West Germany Eyes of Children Kodomo no me Yoshiro Kawazu Japan Dangerous Curves Curvas peligrosas Tito Davison Mexico 1956 Before Sundown Vor Sonnenuntergang Gottfried Reinhardt West Germany A Girl in Black To Koritsi me ta mavra Michael Cacoyannis Greece Roses on the Arm Taiyo to bara Keisuke Kinoshita Japan War and Peace King Vidor Italy The White Reindeer Valkoinen Peura Erik Blomberg Finland 1957 Confessions of Felix Krull Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull Detlev Buck West Germany Tizoc Ismael Rodríguez Mexico Yellow Crow Kiiroi karasu Heinosuke Gosho Japan 1958 Girl and the River L'Eau vive François Villiers France The Road a Year Long Cesta duga godinu dana Giuseppe De Santis Yugoslavia Rosemary Das Mädchen Rosemarie Rolf Thiele West Germany 1959 The Bridge Die Brücke Bernhard Wicki West Germany Black Orpheus Orfeu Negro Marcel Camus France Odd Obsession Kagi Kon Ichikawa Japan Wild Strawberries Smultronstället Ingmar Bergman Sweden Aren't We Wonderful? Wir Wunderkinder Kurt Hoffmann West Germany
1960s YearEnglish titleOriginal titleDirectorCountryBest Foreign-Language Foreign Film 1960 The Virgin Spring Jungfrukällan Ingmar Bergman Sweden The Truth La Vérité Henri-Georges Clouzot France 1961 Two Women La ciociara Vittorio De Sica Italy 1962 Divorce Italian Style Divorzio all'italiana Pietro Germi Italy 1963 Any Number Can Win Mélodie en sous-sol Henri Verneuil France 1964 Marriage Italian Style Matrimonio all'italiana Vittorio De Sica Italy Sallah Shabati סאלח שבתי Ephraim Kishon Israel Best Foreign Film – Foreign Language 1965 Juliet of the Spirits Giulietta degli spiriti Federico Fellini Italy Always Further On Tarahumara, cada vez más lejos Luis Alcoriza Mexico Circle of Love La ronde Roger Vadim France Red Beard 赤ひげ Akira Kurosawa Japan The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Les parapluies de Cherbourg Jacques Demy France 1966 A Man and a Woman Un homme et une femme Claude Lelouch France The Birds, the Bees and the Italians Signore & signori Pietro Germi Italy Hamlet Гамлет Grigori Kozintsev Soviet Union Impossible on Saturday Pas question le samedi Alex Joffé France Loves of a Blonde Lásky jedné plavovlásky Miloš Forman Czechoslovakia 1967 Live for Life Vivre pour vivre Claude Lelouch France The Climax Pietro Germi Italy Closely Watched Trains Ostře sledované vlaky Jiří Menzel Czechoslovakia Elvira Madigan Bo WiderbergSweden The Stranger Lo straniero Luchino Visconti Italy 1968 War and Peace Война и мир Sergei Bondarchuk Soviet Union The Bride Wore Black La mariée était en noir François Truffaut France I Even Met Happy Gypsies Skupljači perja Aleksandar Petrović Yugoslavia Shame Skammen Ingmar Bergman Sweden Stolen Kisses Baisers volés François Truffaut France 1969 Z Costa-Gavras Algeria Ådalen 31 Ådalen '31 Bo Widerberg Sweden Blaumilch Canal Te'alat Blaumilch Ephraim Kishon Israel Girls in the Sun Κορίτσια στον Ήλιο Vasilis Georgiadis Greece Fellini Satyricon Federico Fellini Italy
1970s YearEnglish titleOriginal titleDirectorCountry 1970 Rider on the Rain Le Passager de la Pluie René Clément France Borsalino Jacques Deray Italy The Confession L'aveu Costa-Gavras France The Customer of the Off Season אורח בעונה מתה Moshé Mizrahi France, Israel Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto Elio Petri Italy 1971 The Policeman השוטר אזולאי Ephraim Kishon Israel Claire's Knee Le genou de Claire Éric Rohmer France The Conformist Il conformista Bernardo Bertolucci Italy Tchaikovsky Чайковский Igor Talankin Soviet Union To Die of Love Mourir d'aimer André Cayatte France 1972 The Emigrants Utvandrarna Jan Troell Sweden The New Land Nybyggarna Cries and Whispers Viskningar och rop Ingmar BergmanSweden The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie Luis Buñuel France Mirage Espejismo Armando Robles Godoy Peru Roma Federico Fellini Italy Best Foreign Film 1973 The Pedestrian Der Fußgänger Maximilian Schell West Germany Alfredo, Alfredo Pietro Germi Italy Day for Night La nuit américaine François Truffaut France Kazablan Menahem Golan Israel State of Siege État de siège Costa-Gavras France 1974 Scenes from a Marriage Scener ur ett äktenskap Ingmar Bergman Sweden The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob Gérard Oury France The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz Ted Kotcheff Canada Amarcord Federico Fellini Italy Lacombe, Lucien Louis Malle France 1975 Lies My Father Told Me Ján Kadár Canada And Now My Love Toute une vie Claude Lelouch France Hedda Trevor Nunn United Kingdom The Magic Flute Trollflöjten Ingmar Bergman Sweden Special Section Section spéciale Costa-Gavras France 1976 Face to Face Ansikte mot ansikte Ingmar Bergman Sweden Cousin Cousine Jean-Charles Tacchella France Pocket Money L'argent de poche François Truffaut Seven Beauties Pasqualino Settebellezze Lina Wertmüller Italy The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella Bryan Forbes United Kingdom 1977 A Special Day Una giornata particolare Ettore Scola Italy An Elephant Can Be Extremely Deceptive Un éléphant ça trompe énormément Yves Robert France Madame Rosa La vie devant soi Moshé Mizrahi That Obscure Object of Desire Cet obscur objet du désir Luis Buñuel Raise Ravens Cría cuervos Carlos SauraSpain 1978 Autumn Sonata Höstsonaten Ingmar Bergman Sweden Death on the Nile John Guillermin England Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands Dona Flor e seus dois maridos Bruno Barreto Brazil A Dream of Passion Κραυγή Γυναικών Jules Dassin Greece Get Out Your Handkerchiefs Préparez vos mouchoirs Bertrand Blier France Going All the Way Eskimo Limon Boaz Davidson Israel 1979 La cage aux folles Édouard Molinaro France, Italy The Marriage of Maria Braun Die Ehe der Maria Braun Rainer Werner Fassbinder West Germany The Europeans James Ivory United Kingdom Till Marriage Do Us Part Mio Dio come sono caduta in basso! Luigi Comencini Italy Soldier of Orange Soldaat van Oranje Paul Verhoeven Netherlands
1980s