Bong Joon Ho's film, Parasite (2019), followed Cuaron's benchmark brilliantly at the 2020 ceremony, going onto win Best Achievement in Directing, Best Original Screenplay, and being the first South Korean film to win Best International Feature Film. Crucially, though, Parasite also became the first ever film not in the English language to win Best Motion Picture of the Year – a momentous, overdue achievement.
Parasite's Best Picture win marked a significant moment in cinema and award history, and is one that hopefully opens up avenues for more diversity at the forthcoming Oscars and a wider acceptance of international cinema generally. By taking Parasite's example, then, here we look at other films that won Best International Picture since the category's inception in the 1940s, illuminating a breadth of great international cinema classics.
