The Selection Committee for the Italian film to be nominated for the Oscars, established by Anica on behalf of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, meeting before a notary and composed of Giorgio Carlo Brugnoni, Cristina Comencini, Federica Lucisano, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Niccolò Vivarelli voted The stranger by Paolo Strippoli as the film that will represent Italy at the 99th edition of the Academy Awards, in the selection for the International Feature Film Award category.
It has been selected The stranger by Paolo Strippoli «because it is a new genre film by a young author – we read in the motivation – who has recently begun his journey and has been appreciated by the public and by national and international critics».
The stages: shortlist on December 15th, nomination on January 21st
The stranger will compete for the shortlist which will include the fifteen best international films selected by the Academy and which will be announced on 15 December 2026. The announcement of the nominations (the five films nominated to compete for the award) is scheduled for 21 January 2027, while the Oscar award ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on 14 March 2027.
Rai Cinema: «A courageous film»
«We welcome the designation of the film with great joy The stranger to represent Italy in the Oscar race.” Paolo Del Brocco, CEO of Rai Cinema, declared this in a note, according to which “it is a very significant result, arriving at the end of a selection in which numerous films with high-level authorial and production paths participated”.
Paolo Strippoli, underlines Del Brocco, «is a young director who has already shown a very personal and recognizable voice and great freedom in dealing with different languages and narrative forms. The stranger expresses this originality very well: it is a courageous film, which uses the codes of genre cinema to tell the story of family bonds, the fears and the deepest fragilities of the human being. After the presentation in competition at the Venice Film Festival and the prestigious public recognition received in Toronto, for The stranger a new phase of his international journey opens, which we will face together with the director, the performers, the producers of Propaganda Marina Marzotto and Mattia Oddone and all the people who contributed to the film. In the meantime, with 01 Distribution we are preparing to accompany him in his next meeting with the public in Italian cinemas. Our best wishes go out to all of them.”
The stranger is produced by Propaganda Italia with Rai Cinema in association with Dinamo Film. An Italy-France-Belgium co-production with Kazak Productions and Tarantula. The film will be released in theaters on October 8th with 01 Distribution.
For Rai, the announcement that the film The strangerby Paolo Strippoli, will represent Italy at the 2027 Oscars in the Best International Film category and is, for the Public Service, a source of great pride because it is recognition of the concrete support that Rai, through Rai Cinema, gives to the entire Italian audiovisual sector. And the fact that a young director like Paolo Strippoli represents Italy is further proof of Rai’s commitment to enhancing the ideas, creativity and outlook on the world of young people.
The pride of Puglia
«Puglia is taking its first steps towards the Oscar stage thanks to one of its greatest excellences: the talent of director Paolo Strippoli. His movie The strangershot and set in our region with the contribution of the Apulia Film Commission and the co-production, also from Puglia, of Dinamo Film, was chosen among the films competing to represent Italy at the 99th edition of the Academy Awards in the International Feature Film Award category. This extraordinary achievement, which comes after the success at the Venice Film Festival, fills us with pride and pushes us to invest even more in Apulian cinema and the cultural industry.” This was declared by the president of the Puglia Region, Antonio Decaro.
The production of the selected film was supported by the Puglia Region and the Apulia Film Commission through the Apulia Film Fund with a contribution of 320 thousand euros. The filming by the Apulian director involved various locations in Gioia del Colle, Bari and Monopoli.
The regional councilor for Culture and Knowledge Silvia Miglietta states that for Paolo Strippoli’s film “a recognition has arrived that makes us proud and invites us to continue the work we are doing for the development of Apulian cinema”. «The story of The stranger – he adds – it tells us what a cinema support policy can produce when it brings together talent, professionalism and territory. On 8 October, in Bari, we will welcome the director and the cast of the film to the Galleria cinema, making them feel our affection and all our support, confident that this work can continue its journey towards the final stages of the Oscars.”
«It is extraordinary news which – states the mayor of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Vito Leccese – fills us with pride. We are one step away from the elite of world cinema.”