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Mexican films nominated for the Oscars: all nine titles

Every Mexican film nominated for Best International Feature, from Macario to Roma, the country's first win in the category.

By Rankiew · · 3 min read

Mexico has nine nominations in the international category, starting with Macario, a fable about death from 1960. Its golden generation of directors, with Iñárritu, Del Toro and Cuarón, took the country to the top, and Roma finally brought home the award.

Mexico in Best International Feature

1. Macario (1960)

A poor woodcutter shares a meal with Death on the Day of the Dead and receives the gift of healing.

Worth it if: you enjoy classic fables about life and death.

Oscars: 1961 · Nominated: Best International Feature Film

2. The Important Man (1961)

An Indigenous man in Oaxaca is obsessed with becoming the head of the village festival, played by Toshiro Mifune.

Worth it if: you like rare classics from Mexican cinema.

Oscars: 1962 · Nominated: Best International Feature Film

3. Tlayucan (1962)

A poor man steals a pearl from a church statue to pay for his sick son's medicine.

Worth it if: you enjoy sharp village comedies with a heart.

Oscars: 1963 · Nominated: Best International Feature Film

4. Letters from Marusia (1975)

Miners rise up in Chile in 1907 and face a brutal army response, based on real events.

Worth it if: you want a hard political film about workers.

Oscars: 1976 · Nominated: Best International Feature Film

5. Amores Perros (2000)

A car crash in Mexico City links three stories of love, loyalty and violence.

Worth it if: you like raw, intertwined stories.

Oscars: 2001 · Nominated: Best International Feature Film

6. The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002)

A young priest arrives in a small Mexican town and clashes with the corruption around him and his own vows.

Worth it if: you want a controversial drama about faith and power.

Oscars: 2003 · Nominated: Best International Feature Film

7. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

In Spain in 1944, a girl escapes the cruelty of the war into the world of a mysterious faun.

Worth it if: you want a dark fairy tale for adults.

Oscars: 2007 · Nominated: Best International Feature Film

8. Biutiful (2010)

Javier Bardem plays a dying father trying to protect his children in Barcelona's underworld.

Worth it if: you are ready for a heavy, deeply human drama.

Oscars: 2011 · Nominated: Best International Feature Film

9. Roma (2018) · Winner

The daily life of Cleo, a housekeeper for a middle-class family in 1970s Mexico City.

Worth it if: you like intimate, beautifully photographed memory films.

Oscars: 2019 · Winner: Best International Feature Film

Has Mexico ever won the Oscar for Best International Feature?

Yes. Roma, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, won at the 2019 ceremony, the only Mexican win among nine nominations in this category.

Which one is your favorite?

Pick your favorite on Rankiew: rate every film, write reviews, build lists and start clubs to talk movies with friends.

More from the series: Oscars 2025: every nominee and winner, category by category

#world cinema#oscars#mexican cinema#best international feature#roma#pan's labyrinth