Why International Films Matter More Than Ever
For a long time, international films were treated like something serious, pretentious, niche, and something mostly for critics, festival crowds, or people who don’t mind doing a little reading while they watch a movie. But that idea feels more outdated than ever. International films matter now not just because they expose us to other cultures, but also because they remind us how vast the world is, how connected we all are, and how much we miss when we stay only inside our own cultural bubble. The 2026 Oscars made this popularization of international films especially clear. The Best International Feature nominees were Norway’s Sentimental Value , Brazil’s The Secret Agent , France’s It Was Just an Accident , Spain’s Sirāt , and Tunisia’s The Voice of Hind Rajab , and Sentimental Value won for Norway. But what really stands out is that these films were not confined to just one category. Sentimental Value also showed up in Best Picture, Directing, Film Editing, Actress, and Supporting ...