Oscars 2027: ‘All of a Sudden’, ‘Coward,’ ‘Possible Love,’ ‘Everytime’ and ‘On the Road’ join International Feature race

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Stills from Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘All of a Sudden’ and Lukas Dhont’s ‘Coward’ | Photo Credit: Neon, MUBI

The 2027 Oscars International Feature Film race is taking shape as Japan, Belgium, South Korea, Germany and Mexico select Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden , Lukas Dhont’s Coward , Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love , Sandra Wollner’s Everytime and David Pablos’ On the Road , respectively, as their official submissions.

The five countries have announced their entries for the 99th Academy Awards, adding several major international festival titles to the early Oscar race. The selections come as countries begin finalising their official submissions ahead of the Academy’s September 30 deadline for the International Feature Film category.

Japan has selected Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden , marking the filmmaker’s second appearance as Japan’s Oscar submission after Drive My Car . Hamaguchi’s 2021 drama went on to receive four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and International Feature Film, winning the latter. All of a Sudden premiered in Competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the Best Actress prize.

The French-Japanese-German-Belgian co-production is set in Paris and centres on Marie-Lou Fontaine, a nursing-home director, and Mari Morisaki, a Japanese playwright living with terminal illness. The film is based loosely on the nonfiction book You and I: The Illness Suddenly Gets Worse by Makiko Miyano and Maho Isono. Neon has scheduled the film for a November 25 U.S. theatrical release, giving it an awards-season platform beyond the International Feature Film category.

Belgium has selected Lukas Dhont’s Coward , his World War I drama that premiered in Competition at Cannes. Set in 1916, the film follows Pierre, a young Belgian soldier eager to prove himself at the front, who meets Francis, a performer organising theatrical shows behind the lines to raise the morale of soldiers. Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne shared Cannes’ Best Actor award for their performances.

COWARD has been selected as Belgium's official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2027 Academy Awards. Lukas Dhont's sweeping wartime romance arrives in US & Canada theaters December 25. pic.twitter.com/xeHPtzSNZE

The selection gives Dhont another Oscar connection after Close , his 2022 drama, received Belgium’s submission and earned an International Feature Film nomination at the 2023 Academy Awards. Dhont’s Girl also won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2018, establishing him as one of Belgium’s most prominent contemporary filmmakers.

South Korea has chosen Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love , the filmmaker’s first feature since his acclaimed 2018 drama Burning . The film follows two married couples whose lives become intertwined after a documentary filmmaker encounters a laid-off worker and his wife.