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The United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has officially recognized CINESAL as the Comité Nacional de Selección Cinematográfica de El Salvador: Premios Oscar®. The first call to select the film that will represent the country will be open until september 4, 2026.
The United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has recognized CINESAL – Comité Nacional de Selección Cinematográfica de El Salvador: Premios Oscar® as the entity responsible for choosing the film that will represent the country in the Best International Feature Film category of the 99th edition of the Oscar® Awards, whose ceremony will be held on march 14, 2027 in Los Angeles, California.
With this recognition, El Salvador takes a historic step because for the first time in its history it will be able to present an official candidacy for the Oscar® Awards, thus joining the group of countries that participate annually in one of the most prestigious categories in world cinema.
A milestone for salvadoran cinema
Given the absence in El Salvador of a film academy or a trade institution, a group of prominent salvadoran filmmakers, dedicated to fiction, documentary and animation, residing both in the country and abroad, promoted the formation of a commission in charge of identifying and selecting the members of the voting committee. The process was evaluated and approved by the Executive Committee of International Feature Films of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which officially recognized the formation of CINESAL in accordance with its guidelines.
The creation and recognition of CINESAL — an independent entity made up of filmmakers, producers, actors and workers from various areas of El Salvador’s film production — represents a transcendental advance for the development of national cinema, by establishing for the first time an official mechanism to select the film that will represent El Salvador before the Academy.
This achievement opens new opportunities for salvadoran productions to expand their international projection and strengthens the country’s positioning within the global film industry.
«This is not only an achievement for Salvadoran cinema; It is the beginning of a new stage for national talent. For the first time, our stories will have the opportunity to officially represent El Salvador on the most important stage in world cinema. This recognition reflects years of effort and commitment of our audiovisual industry and opens a historic opportunity for salvadoran cinema to transcend borders and take our stories to the world”, said salvadoran producer and screenwriter Oscar Torres, representative of CINESAL.
It was time for salvadoran talent to participate in the international spaces that it always deserved. It was time to form an institution that would take us there. CINESAL is doing its part. Now it’s up to our filmmakers to tell their stories.
The call is open for salvadoran feature films
As part of this historic announcement, CINESAL officially opens its first call to receive applications for fiction, animation and documentary feature films interested in representing El Salvador in the next edition of the Oscar® Awards.
Participating productions must meet the requirements established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. General Eligibility Requirements:
• Have a duration of more than 40 minutes.
• Be predominantly produced in Spanish or another native language.
• Have been commercially released in movie theaters in El Salvador during the official eligibility period.
• Have English subtitles.
Deadline to apply to CINESAL: September 4, 2026
Registration platform: https://forms.gle/vvJRhfAYPc6LbgYs9
For more information on eligibility requirements and rules: oscars.org/rules
The selected film will be announced on september 18, 2026. This announcement will mark the beginning of a new stage for national cinema and will allow, for the first time, a salvadoran production to officially participate in the path to the Oscar® Awards, the highest recognition of the global film industry.
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