As of 2021[update], seven Dutch films have been nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, three of which have won the award: The Assault in 1987, Antonia's Line in 1996 and Character in 1998.[5] Two Dutch submissions were disqualified: The Vanishing in 1989 because more than half of the film was spoken in French and Bluebird in 2006 because it had aired on television.[6]
Fons Rademakers represented the Netherlands in the competition five times, achieving two Oscar nominations, including one win.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1956.[7] The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award.[3] Before the award was created, the Board of Governors of the academy voted on a film every year that was considered the best foreign language film released in the United States, and there were no submissions.[4] Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by the Netherlands for review by the academy for the award since its first entry in 1959.
A^ : The Vanishing was disqualified because the Academy determined that there was too much French dialogue in the film to meet the requirements. Although the film was produced in the Netherlands by French-Dutch filmmaker and a mostly Dutch cast, AMPAS deemed that the film was unsuitable to represent the Netherlands. The Dutch declined to send another film, leaving them unrepresented for the first time since 1972.[6]
B^ : Bluebird was rejected by the Academy because the film previously aired on Dutch television. The Academy was not persuaded by the fact that the film had been newly edited for cinema since the broadcasting, stating "there was not enough difference between the two versions." Because of the late notification the Netherlands was unable to submit a new entry.[6]
C^ : The Dutch selection committee originally announced The Silent Army, by Jean van de Velde as their official Oscar submission. Several people within the Dutch film industry protested that the film was not eligible since it contained too much English dialogue and because it had screened in Dutch theatres in an alternate version, in violation of AMPAS rules. The committee withdrew the submission and agreed to reconvene. They then chose The Silent Army a second time. After conferring with AMPAS and being told that the film was, in fact, going to be disqualified, they met a third time and selected Winter in Wartime.[6]
^The category was previously named the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but this was changed to the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in April 2019, after the Academy deemed the word "Foreign" to be outdated.[1][2]
^"Buladó is Dutch Oscar entry". EYE Film Institute Netherlands. 2 November 2020. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.