Producer Rodrigo Teixeira predicts international films will dominate Oscar best picture
International films will take 60% of the Oscar best picture field within five years, producer Rodrigo Teixeira predicted on 22 September at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
He spoke at the festival's Creative Investors' Conference, an industry event co-organised by CAA Media Finance, according to Variety. The forecast puts the main race firmly beyond Hollywood.
Teixeira said three to four international films are already making best picture each year. Best picture is the Academy's top award and is open to films from any country. Best international feature is a separate Oscar for work made outside the United States, usually in a language other than English.
Teixeira produces through his RT Films banner. The company's credits include Frances Ha, Call Me by Your Name, Ad Astra and Bergman Island. The run also includes I'm Still Here, the Brazilian drama directed by Walter Salles.
He knows the path. I'm Still Here earned nominations for best picture and for best actress for Fernanda Torres in 2025, then won the Oscar for best international feature. That is three nominations in total. Teixeira produced the film alongside Maria Carlota Bruno.
The numbers backed him up. Made for around US$9 million, I'm Still Here earned more than US$36 million worldwide and became the highest-grossing Brazilian film since COVID, in figures reported on 22 September 2026, according to Variety. The production budget is the cost of making the film, before marketing and release costs are added. Cinemas in Brazil alone contributed US$18.5 million of that total, in figures reported on 3 March 2025, as reported by Variety.
The run has continued. Sentimental Value, the Norwegian film directed by Joachim Trier, won the Oscar for best international feature in 2026, according to Reuters. Brazil's The Secret Agent, France's It Was Just an Accident and Spain's Sirât were among the other nominees in that category, according to ABC News. That list put four countries on one ballot.
For fans, this means a wider race. A premiere that starts outside Hollywood can move into wide release and stay in best picture talk through awards season. If Teixeira is right, that route will soon be normal.
