Over the past few years, the Oscars have taken a decidedly international turn. This year, of the 10 films nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, three of them – “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Past Lives,” and “The Zone of Interest” – are non-English language films.

In the first two decades of the Academy Awards, only three foreign films – all European – earned Oscar nominations, writes Kerry Hegarty, associate professor of Film Studies in the department of Media, Journalism, and Film. 

“As a scholar of film history, I see the recent recognition of non-English language films as the result of demographic changes in the industry and within the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences itself,” Hegarty said. 

Read her article “How non-English language cinema is reshaping the Oscars landscape” in The Conversation (March 4)