Argentina 1985 did not secure the top Oscar despite being a heavy favorite in many circles. The ceremony honored the best foreign language film at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where the German feature All Quiet on the Western Front took the prize over the South American entry. Other strong contenders included Close from Belgium, Silent Bloodlines from Ireland, EO from Poland, and the South American choice Argentina 1985, which had captured significant attention worldwide.
Even as Argentina 1985 collected nine awards from the Hollywood Academy, it faced eight additional nominations across various categories, including two in Best International Feature and seven in other sections. Lead performances by Ricardo Darín and Peter Lanzani helped elevate the film, and it had already earned the Golden Globe for Best International Feature, a prize that historically tracks closely with Oscar outcomes. Yet the film did not add to its trophy count on ceremony night. [Citation: Academy Awards records and related press coverage]
First nomination and first award win
The film traces a narrative rooted in the Uruguayan novel bearing the same name, with early Argentine cinema history dating back to 1974 when Mario Benedetti’s Truce became the first Argentine work nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. It also marked South America’s second submission in this category following a Brazilian feature from the early 1960s. The 1974 title La Trgua featured notable talents such as Héctor Alterio, Ana María Picchio and Luis Brandoni, but could not prevail against the era’s heavyweights that year, including Fellini’s Amarcord, which the Hollywood Academy recognized with top honors. [Citation: historical Oscar records]
Ten years later, Argentina returned to the Oscar spotlight with Camila by María Luisa Bemberg, a film that did not clinch the top prize but helped reignite national cinema’s international presence. The real breakthrough came when The Official Story appeared in 1985, a drama set against the fall of the dictatorship. The film by Luis Puenzo carries a deeply emotional tone and centers on a well-to-do schoolteacher, portrayed by Norma Aleandro, who begins to understand the brutal acts of the State terror, including the dark reality of forced disappearances. [Citation: film history and festival retrospectives]
Road to a second Oscar for Argentina
After that milestone, Argentine cinema would attempt the Oscar twice more with Tango, Never Leave Me by Carlos Saura in 1998 and El hijo de la novia by Juan José Campanella in 2001. Both came close but were edged out by others, including Life Is Beautiful from Italy and In Nobody’s Land from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The journey continued with Campanella achieving enduring recognition a few years later with El secreto de sus ojos, inspired by Eduardo Sacheri’s novel The Question of Your Eyes. The film won the Oscar in 2010, reinforcing Argentina’s place in the list of notable international entries. [Citation: Oscar history and Campanella works]
El secreto de sus ojos, one of the country’s most successful titles, combined a gripping mystery with a passionate love story, anchored by the performances of Ricardo Darín and Soledad Villamil. Darín later returned to the Oscar spotlight in Argentina 1985, stepping onto the screen as prosecutor Julio Strassera in a project that later inspired audiences in other formats, including a widely discussed wave of promotional trailers in 2014. The actor’s public persona sometimes embraced the social dimensions associated with his roles, reflecting the interconnected nature of Argentine cinema and its global reception. [Citation: filmography timelines and awards coverage]
The eighth Argentine Oscar moment arrived with Argentina 1985, a recognition that underscored the country’s ongoing influence on world cinema. [Citation: Academy Awards records]
Other Argentine achievements
Beyond acting and directing, Argentina has also earned accolades in music and production. Gustavo Santaolalla has won Oscars for Best Original Score for Brokeback Mountain and Babel, and the same prize was once claimed by Luis Bacalov for El Cartero. The craft of production design found recognition as Eugenio Zanetti accepted the Best Production Design Oscar for Restoration. Nicolas Schmerkin shared the Best Animated Short trophy for Logorama, and Armando Bó alongside Nicolás Giacobone received Best Original Screenplay for Birdman. The last Argentine recipient, in a broader sense, is the prolific composer and conductor Lalo Schifrin, honored with an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2018. [Citation: Academy Award histories and national contributions]