Though CODA was pretty much the projected win in every news outlet for the 2022 Oscar for Best Picture, many agreed that there may have been another film that was arguably better. Drive My Car was essentially guaranteed this year for Best Foreign Film, but CODA as an American film took the big awards. With only one non-English language film in history winning Best Picture, it looks like they are still disadvantaged for this prestigious American award.
At the 2020 Oscars, Parasite became the first non-English language film to win Best Picture. This extraordinary film about class divides in South Korea preceded another high-profile win by Chloé Zhao the following year, for her American film, Nomadland, about van dwellers in the United States. Chinese director Zhao is the first woman of color to win Best Picture and Best Director. These groundbreaking moments were followed by a major win from CODA in 2022, which instantly comes across as a notch below the previous two winners. Despite an amazing depiction of deaf people, the only first it can claim is the first streaming service-distributed film to win Best Picture.
Academy voters clearly wanted the best for Drive My Car getting it up into the running for Best Picture (the first-ever for a Japanese film) as well as Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best International Film. Though it only won the last of the four, Drive My Car marked a groundbreaking moment akin to Parasite and Nomadland.
Country: Mexico
Wins: Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography
Country: France
Wins: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Screenplay
Country: Spain
Wins: Best Original Screenplay
Country: Italy
Wins: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actor, Best Original Score
Country: France
Wins: Best Actress, Best Makeup
As you can see, non-American films and the Oscars still have a limited relationship, but the disparity between who wins an Academy Award and who should have won will probably never go away.