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Last verified: September 25, 2026 · KOFIC selection and 99th Academy Awards rules reviewed.
Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love is South Korea’s official submission for the International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. That is a real and important selection — but it does not mean the film is already an Oscar nominee.
The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) selected the film through Korea’s national submission process. It must still move through Academy eligibility and voting. Fifteen films will reach the International Feature shortlist, and five will become official nominees.
The next major date is December 15, 2026, when the Academy announces its shortlists. Official Oscar nominations follow on January 21, 2027.
| Stage | What it means |
|---|---|
| Official submission | Korea selected Possible Love to enter the Academy process through its approved national committee. |
| Shortlist | 15 International Feature films advance after preliminary voting. |
| Nominee | 5 shortlisted films become official Oscar nominees. |
| Winner | One of the 5 nominated films wins the award. |
Korea has already made its choice
KOFIC announced on August 28 that Possible Love had been selected as Korea’s submission for the 99th Academy Awards.
The film is directed by Lee Chang-dong and stars Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong. It is Lee’s first feature in eight years since Burning.
KOFIC’s selection panel had 15 members. Once Korea chose Possible Love, the domestic competition over which film would represent the country was finished.
The Academy competition was not.
“South Korea’s official submission” describes the film’s current procedural status. It should not be shortened to “Oscar-nominated Korean film.”
Correct: “Possible Love is South Korea’s official submission for the 99th Academy Awards.”
Too early: “Oscar-nominated Possible Love.”
Submission is followed by eligibility and voting
The International Feature Film category has its own submission and voting rules.
Traditionally, an Academy-approved selection committee in each participating country or region chooses an official film. The Academy then checks submissions against its eligibility requirements.
Eligible films enter preliminary voting. Academy members who participate in the category vote, and the 15 films receiving the strongest support advance to the shortlist.
Those 15 are then viewed for the nominations round. Five become official nominees.
The Academy’s 99th Oscars rules state the numbers directly: 15 shortlisted films, then five nominations.
This means a country can be proud of its national selection while still being several steps away from an Oscar nomination.
Official Netflix trailer for Lee Chang-dong’s film.
Open on YouTube →
The 99th Oscars added a second International Feature route
The 2026 rules contain a significant change that older explainers may not include.
For the 99th Oscars, there are now two ways for a non-English-language film to be submitted for International Feature consideration.
The first is the familiar country-or-region route through an Academy-approved selection committee.
The second is new: a non-English-language film can become eligible to submit by winning a specified qualifying award at one of six designated international film festivals.
The Academy’s list for the 99th Oscars includes:
- Berlin International Film Festival — Golden Bear for Best Film
- Busan International Film Festival — Busan Award, Best Film
- Cannes Film Festival — Palme d’Or
- Sundance Film Festival — World Cinema Grand Jury Prize
- Toronto International Film Festival — Platform Award
- Venice International Film Festival — Golden Lion
This is not the route that currently defines Possible Love.
Possible Love entered as South Korea’s official national submission selected by KOFIC. The new festival route is useful context because it changes how the category works from the 99th Oscars onward.
“Oscar contender” is not an official stage
Entertainment publications often use Oscar contender or awards contender long before nominations are announced.
Those phrases are useful shorthand for films considered competitive during awards season, but they are not formal Academy statuses.
Submission, shortlist and nominee correspond to identifiable stages in the process.
Contender does not.
This distinction is especially useful when reading headlines about dozens of national submissions in the months before the shortlist. A film can be described by journalists as an Oscar contender without ever becoming one of the Academy’s official five nominees.
The dates to watch
| Date | 99th Oscars milestone |
|---|---|
| September 30, 2026 | International Feature Film submission deadline |
| December 15, 2026 | Oscar shortlists announced |
| January 21, 2027 | Oscar nominations announced |
| March 14, 2027 | 99th Academy Awards ceremony |
For Possible Love, December 15 is the first major status check after Korea’s submission.
If the film appears among the 15 International Feature titles, it can accurately be described as shortlisted.
If it then appears among the five films announced on January 21, it becomes an official Oscar nominee.
Those two dates provide clean update points for any article tracking the film’s awards run.
A Korean submission can matter even without a nomination
National selection is still a competitive step.
Korea can send one film through its official selection-committee route, and KOFIC chose Possible Love after reviewing the eligible Korean field.
That recognition does not guarantee the Academy shortlist, and failing to reach the final five would not retroactively erase the national selection.
The stages simply answer different questions.
KOFIC has answered: Which film will Korea submit?
The Academy’s December shortlist will answer: Which 15 eligible films advance?
The January nominations will answer: Which five are official nominees?
The article should be updated after the December 15 shortlist announcement and again after the January 21 nomination announcement.
Two Korea Desserts
Official music video with its own playful references to film and screen romance.
Open on YouTube →
Official VISITKOREA film moving through Seoul and regional Korean locations.
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