The Armenian National Film Academy has announced that Tamara Stepanyan’s feature film In the Land of Arto will represent Armenia in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.
The Academy’s announcement, however, names only the selected film. It does not state how many films were submitted for consideration, which other films competed to become Armenia’s entry, who served on the selection committee, or how the final decision was reached.
In June 2026, the Armenian National Film Academy publicly opened submissions for films seeking to represent Armenia at the 99th Academy Awards. Applications were accepted from June 4 through August 14.
Applicants were instructed to complete an official submission form, send it to the Academy by email and comply with the eligibility requirements set out under Rule Sixteen of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ rules for the Best International Feature Film category.
Following the August 14 deadline, the Armenian Academy did not publicly announce the number of submissions received or identify the films submitted for consideration. On September 4, it announced the final result: In the Land of Arto had been selected as Armenia’s entry.
As a result, a basic part of the national selection remains unknown publicly: how many films entered the process, which films were considered alongside In the Land of Arto, and through what procedure the winning film was selected.
Under the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, each country may submit one film for consideration in the Best International Feature Film category. The national selection must be made by an approved selection committee, with a majority of its members consisting of artists and/or craftspeople from the field of motion pictures.
The Armenian National Film Academy’s September 4 announcement does not identify the members of that committee or provide information about the vote or decision-making process.
The deadline for countries to submit their films for the 99th Academy Awards is September 30, 2026.
This is also the second consecutive year that Armenia has selected a film directed by Tamara Stepanyan for the Best International Feature Film race.
For the 98th Academy Awards, Armenia selected Stepanyan’s documentary My Armenian Phantoms. The film did not advance to the category’s shortlist. For the 99th Academy Awards, the country will now be represented by In the Land of Arto.
The lack of publicly available information about the 2026 selection also follows an earlier inquiry by KinoPress concerning the Armenian National Film Academy’s internal procedures.
KinoPress previously asked the Academy to clarify its voting and decision-making procedures and requested access to its charter, membership rules, list of Academy members and other governing documents. The inquiry also sought information on conflict-of-interest provisions, oversight of voting and the obligations of Academy members participating in voting procedures.
The Armenian National Film Academy did not respond to the inquiry or provide the requested documents.
The issue takes on additional significance in the context of Armenia’s Oscar submission, as the outcome of the national selection process becomes the country’s official entry to an international awards competition administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
