Road to Oscars 2026: 6 Must-Watch Films | CinemaWorld
With the 98th Academy Awards just around the corner on 15 March, 2026, it’s almost impossible to escape the talk around this year’s frontrunners. Nominees like France’s It Was Just an Accident and Norway’s Sentimental Value are currently everywhere, from our social feeds to every critic's "must-watch" list.
But at CinemaWorld, it’s the undiscovered gems that we want to showcase, to spotlight the unheralded films that are no less masterful. For this Oscars celebration, we’re moving past the trending movies to spotlight 6 films that have once represented their home countries in the Best International Feature Film category (once known as Best Foreign Language Film).
We’ve got a 2026 Oscar contender on the list too—and they’re all available to stream now on CinemaWorld.
1. Open Door (2019)
Albania’s Official Submission for the 93rd Academy Awards
In this tense Albanian road movie, director Florenc Papas explores the clash between modern female autonomy and patriarchal traditions. Sisters Elma and Rudina embark on a long trip back to their Albanian hometown, and they are forced to confront the growing distance between them. But when Elma reveals that she is pregnant despite being unmarried—a taboo in the eyes of their strict, traditionalist father—the sisters have a new challenge to overcome together.
To cover up the truth, they set out to find a pretend husband for Elma before they arrive home to face their family.
It’s a subversive drama that questions the longstanding patriarchal traditions and the absurd lengths women have to go to abide by such expectations.
2. Heavenly Nomadic (2015)
Kyrgyzstan’s Official Submission for the 88th Academy Awards
High in the remote mountains of Kyrgyzstan, three generations of nomads–an ageing couple, their widowed daughter-in-law Shayir, and their granddaughter–live by the rhythms of nature on their ancestral lands. But as modernity slowly encroaches on their daily lives, along with a neighbouring meteorologist with eyes on Shayir, the family soon finds their traditional, nomadic ways threatened.
Directed by Mirlan Abdykalykov, son of Kyrgyzstan’s best-known auteur, Aktan Arym Kubat (The Swing, The Adopted Son and The Chimp) Heavenly Nomadic is a picturesque and meditative look at a vanishing nomadic life.
3. Train Driver's Diary (2016)
Serbia’s Official Submission for the 89th Academy Awards
Train Driver’s Diary is an unexpectedly touching and quirky coming-of-age exploration of innocence, guilt, and the emotional weight of family legacy.
In the train driver community, accidental killings are a bizarre rite of passage. In this Serbian Official Submission to the Oscars in 2016, director Miloš Radović tells the story of Ilija, a veteran train driver who is indifferent to the many tragic deaths he has witnessed on the job. But there is one life he saved on the tracks---a boy, Sima, too young to be wishing for death.
Pitying the young orphan, Ilija (played by prominent Serbian actor and producer, Lazar Ristovski) adopts him as his own and tries to keep him from entering the same, terrible profession, but fate has other plans.
4. Human Capital (2013)
Italy’s Official Submission for the 87th Academy Awards
Paolo Virzì’s Human Capital is a taut thriller that breaks a hit-and-run accident into four chapters, presenting a fractured narrative through three contrasting perspectives. An exposé of the greed and financial manipulation within Italy’s upper class, it’s a masterfully crafted moral fable that questions the value of human life in an age of corrupt capitalism.
Starring the acclaimed Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, the film also swept the stage during the David di Donatello Awards in 2014, clinching a slew of awards and nominations for the cast’s performance and compelling story.
5. Blizzard of Souls (2019)
Latvia’s Official Submission for the 93rd Academy Awards
This historical war film is the top-grossing film in Latvian box office history. Directed by Dzintars Dreibergs, the film follows a 17-year-old farm boy who enlists in the Latvian Riflemen during World War I, driven by a desire for revenge after his mother is killed by German invaders.
With a breathtaking cinematography reminiscent of Sam Mendes’ 1917, Blizzard of Souls is a visceral coming-of-age story forged in the tumult of war, hope, and disillusionment, and the birth of a nation.
6. Breathing Underwater (2024)
Luxembourg’s Official Submission for the 98th Academy Awards
Luxembourg’s Oscar submission Breathing Underwater, written by director Eric Lamhène and cinematographer Rae Lyn Lee, swaps the typical grim aesthetic of trauma for something far more tender. The film follows Emma—played by the captivating Carla Juri (Blade Runner 2049)—as she retreats to a women’s shelter to escape a cycle of domestic violence.
The film subverts the audience's preconception of a women’s shelter, bathing the house in warm, natural light. It’s a sanctuary defined by sisterhood and forgiveness rather than just the trauma that brought them there. Beyond the festival circuit, the film is already being used to raise awareness on domestic abuse in schools, justices and public spaces.
For International Women’s Day this month, we’ve also sat down for an interview with the film’s co-writer and cinematographer, Rae Lyn Lee.
Watch the interview here.
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