This year, an Iranian film with no English-language dialogue or actors  recognizable in U.S., received nominations for best original screenplay and international feature.

Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, was pushed as a best picture candidate by distributor Neon and racked up some critics’ prizes. Panahi’s status as a dissident filmmaker free to promote his movie for the first time in more than a decade — before he was to return to Iran to face a prison sentence and travel ban for “propaganda activities.

This year the Academy had more worthy options from all over the world to consider than ever before.

This is a result caused by a much more complex set of voting and industry factors than it might first appear.

The most obvious explanation: the evolving nature of the Academy. Its membership grows more global by the year, and any given new class of nominees that is not already part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is then typically invited to join — creating more diverse representation. It helps to have more people outside Hollywood, voting with that front of mind.

The Academy has had a big say in all this. The 2019 Oscars ended the five-year drought and started the still-running eight-year streak for non-English films in best picture, marking a turning point.

Before then, the voting method for the international film category was limited to small committees. “It would be 30 people deciding the 5 nominees,” says a strategist who’s worked on several campaigns.

Then the system changed. Suddenly, all Academy branches were allowed to opt in to the selection; every voter in L.A., New York and around the world had the power to vote on a category that used to be decided by a few dozen.

International campaigns started expanding their focus beyond one category. “These movies were being seen by more people because we had to target way more people,” the strategist says. And if the movies were landing? You could expect more noms.

Alfonso Cuarón’s Spanish-language Roma tied for the most nominations (10) of any movie that year, while international nominees in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War (Poland) and Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Never Look Away (Germany) also competed in other categories.

But other factors were at play, too.

 Cold War was distributed by Amazon in the U.S., while Roma was with Netflix.

Despite their poor recent track record, they had deep-pocketed streamers, willing to commit to full-fledged Oscar pushes. “I’d call it the inception point — when an international film was initially positioned as a best picture contender at the start of the season,” says an expert.

Parasite (Korean) Vs. 1917

Roma came close to the top win, laying the groundwork for the Parasite phenom that came the next year, when Bong Joon Ho’s Korean satire, steered by Neon, defied the odds as the first non-English-language film to ever win best picture; most oredicted that Sam Mendes’ 1917 (gimmicky war film) woyld win (as it had won the guids awards befre the Oscars)

The global reach of a streamer like Netflix helped accelerate that crossing of borders. “Netflix has been instrumental the same way [Neon’s] Tom Quinn or [Sony Pictures Classics’] Michael Barker have been in bringing these stories to us audiences,” says UTA partner Jeremy Barber, who represents international talent including Trier and Anatomy of a Fall star Sandra Hüller.

Some of these movies are afilling a much needed prestige niche.

This year’s best picture players: Sentimental Value is a sharp, rich family drama inspired by the likes of Kramer vs. Kramer and Ordinary People, while The Secret Agent recalls 1970s conspiracy thrillers. “I think we are in a golden age of international cinema,” Barber says.