"Young Mothers" Is Belgium's Entry for the Oscars

Belgium has selected Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s "Young Mothers" as its submission for the Best International Feature Film category of the 98th Academy Awards.

The drama, which is the fraternal directorial duo’s 13th feature, revolves around five young women living in a temporary shelter for underage mothers.

"Young Mothers" world premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May, winning Best Screenplay and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

It was the brothers’ ninth time in Competition at Cannes, where they previously won the Palme d’Or for Rosetta in 1999 and The Child in 2005.

They have previously represented Belgium in the Oscar race with Rosetta, The Son (2002), The Child (2005) and Two Days, One Night (2014), but have never been nominated.

The Belgian selection committee comprised producer Gregory Zalcman (Flow) at Brussels-based Take Five; Eva Kuperman (The Successor) at Brussels-based Stenola Productions; Juliette Duret, Head of Cinema at Centre for Fine Arts Brussels BOZAR; as well as directors Lenny van Wesemael (Leef) and Sahim Omar Kalifa (Baghdad Messi).

Producer Hilde De Laere (How to Kill Your Sister) presided over the selection jury.

The film is a co-production between the Dardennes’ Les Films du Fleuve, Archipel 35, The Reunion, France 2 Cinéma, Be Tv & Orange, Proximus, and RTBF (Télévision belge), in association with Goodfellas, Diaphana Distribution and Cinéart. Goodfellas is handling international sales.

Eight Belgian films have been nominated in the Best International Feature Film or Best Foreign Film categories since Belgium began participating in the Academy Awards in 1967.

The last to make it to the nomination stage was Lukas Dhont’s "Close" in 2022, while the previous year Laura Wandel’s Playground made it onto the shortlist of the 94th Academy Awards.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will announce the shortlisted films for the 2026 Oscars on December 16, and the nominated films on January 22, 2026.

The 98th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on March 16, 2026.