Another Polish filmmaker, Andrzej Wajda, made history in 1999, when he became the first ever East European director to be given an Honorary Oscar. That he received the award from a former politically-oriented actress Jane Fonda made his moment in the limelight all the more memorable. “I think to create film in a foreign language, and yet to be known and recognized by everyone is the best kind of success one can expect,” Wajda said in his eloquent acceptance speech.

In 1995, four out of the five Best Picture nominees were shot outside of America, highlighting the globalization of film production and blurring the definition of what's a Hollywood studio product. The smorgasbord of locations, directors, casts, and crews gave that year's picks an international flavor usually seen only in the foreign-language film category.

In 1995, the noted Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski received two Oscar nominations, Best Director and Original Screenplay for Red, the Swissmade picture and last entry in his acclaimed Three Colors trilogy that won most of the critics awards for the year's best foreign film. A furor erupted when Red was disqualified to compete in the Foreign-language picture category due to rigid bureaucratic rules based on language and financing

Every once in a while, foreign filmmakers feature prominently in the Oscar competition. In 1987, for example, all five nominated directors were born outside of the United States: Italian Bertolucci (who won) for The Last Emperor, British John Boorman for Hope and Glory, Swedish Lasse Hallstrom for My Life as a Dog, Canadian-born Norman Jewison for Moonstruck, and British Adrian Lyne for Fatal Attraction.

That the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has tended to overlook the work of first-rate foreign filmmakers is clear from the career of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman.