When the first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 , no foreign-language film was honored . During the early post-war era ( 1947 – 1955 ) , eight foreign language films received Special or Honorary Awards . Academy leader and board member Jean Hersholt argued that " an international award , if properly and carefully administered , would promote a closer relationship between American film craftsmen and those of other countries " . The first foreign language film honored with such an award was the Italian neorealist drama '' Shoeshine '' , whose citation read : " the high quality of this motion picture , brought to eloquent life in a country scarred by war , is proof to the world that the creative spirit can triumph over adversity " . In the following years , similar awards were given to seven other films : one from Italy ( '' The Bicycle Thief '' ) , two from France ( '' Monsieur Vincent '' and '' Forbidden Games '' ) , three from Japan ( '' Rashomon '' , '' Gate of Hell '' and '' Samurai , The Legend of Musashi '' ) , as well as a Franco-Italian co-production ( '' The Walls of Malapaga '' ) . These awards , however , were handed out on a discretionary rather than a regular basis ( no award was given at the 26th Academy Awards held in 1954 ) , and were not competitive since there were no nominees but simply one winning film per year
26th Academy Awards
26th Academy Awards
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film