In the 2010s, global cinema truly began to get the (arguably overdue) attention it deserved in North America. While subtitled films seemed to be reserved only for film festivals like Cannes and Berlin, the rise of streaming platforms allowed these films to be accessible globally for the first time. Hollywood was no stranger to cross-over before this; the 1970s martial arts craze largely came from Hong Kong, while an increase of South Asian diaspora communities in the West drove up demand for Bollywood and South Asian films. Now, Americans are consuming more global content more than ever.

Asghar Farhadi, who won the Academy Award for Best International Feature twice in the decade, is one of many examples of film globalization; his award-winning film The Salesman was funded and distributed by Amazon. Then, at the very end of the decade, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite swept the Oscars and became the first movie not in English to win Best Picture. Parasite might’ve been the first film to win, but it was its fellow global predecessors who paved the way for its success. The 2010s were filled with spectacular films, and Oscar winners only represent a small fraction of these incredible movies. Here are the Best International Feature Oscars winners of the 2010s, ranked.

10 In a Better World

Women holds young boy's shoulders as she speaks to him
Zentropa

In a Better World follows a doctor (Mikael Persbrandt) who splits time in his native Denmark and a Sudanese refugee camp. He has had an affair, and his wife has separated from him, taking their two sons with her. When his bullied son makes a new friend at school, one who has emotional trauma of his own, the movie becomes a story about revenge and core human emotions like sadness and rage. It's a powerful movie that teaches lessons in cruelty and kindness.

9 The Great Beauty

Man in yellow suit jacket sits in front of Roman monument.
Indigo Film

A sixty-five-year-old journalist and theatre critic (Toni Servillo) is chasing the remnants of creativity he once had in his youth. The Great Beauty is about reflecting on his life and what he hasn’t done yet, despite having made it externally. Rome is the scene of this story, and it’s filmed eloquently; the cinematography is gorgeous yet taunting as it asks how one could be so lonely and regretful in a place like this. He’s only getting older, and the film is left wondering: has he done enough in this lifetime?

Related: 10 Best Movies of the 2010s, Ranked

8 Amour

Elderly man and woman hug
Les Films du Losange

Amour was the winner of the 2012 Palm d’Or at Cannes Film Festival, and its lead actress, Emmanuelle Riva, became the oldest nominee for Best Actress at the Oscars. After suffering from a series of strokes, her character has to be cared for by her husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant). This is a film about a relationship ending but through death. While this is a film that could feel too clean, too sanitized, and melodramatic for its subject, Amour resonates with genuine authenticity. It doesn’t just draw tears for the sake of crying; it engages with the philosophical nature of what it means to love and be married until the very end.

7 A Fantastic Woman

Woman stands with golden jacket on
Sony Pictures Classic

A Fantastic Woman is a Chilean movie with soul to it. Marina (Daniela Vega) is a transgender woman dating an older man. She works two jobs as a waitress and nightclub singer, but one night, after her boyfriend dies suddenly of a brain aneurysm. But there is no opportunity for her to grieve. Because she is a transgender woman, she is dubbed a sex worker by the police. Her boyfriend's family also doesn't accept her because she is a trans woman. There’s a quiet strength to this movie, one where the main character refuses to give up despite the harshness and criticism that surrounds her.

Related: Best LGBTQ+ Movies of the 2010s

6 The Salesman

Man looks at woman with hijab behind him
Memento Films Production

The Salesman was a hit at Cannes Film Festival; it won Best Screenplay and Best Actor. The film has a play-within-a-play context; Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) are a married couple who both work in theatre. When their production company begins rehearsals for Death of a Salesman, they move into a new home. One night as Rana is home alone, an intruder breaks in and sexually assaults her while in the shower, putting their relationship and the show under strain. The Salesman is a humane look at Iranian society and the ordinary people living within it. The inclusion of Miller’s play, its themes, and connections only strengthen the narrative and relationships between characters.

5 Ida

Nun looks to her left
Canal+ Polska

Polish’s past in World War II is unearthed in the magnificent Ida. A young woman (Agata Kulesza) prepares to take her vows to become a Catholic nun, but she is told to visit her aunt, a former Communist prosecutor. The year is 1962. Her aunt tells her that her parents were Jews murdered by the Germans in World War II, and their daughter ended up at the Catholic convent. This sparks a journey to find her parent’s bodies and where she came from. Ida has a run time of only eighty minutes, but during that short time, the black and white nature of the film becomes pervasive, a heavy blanket of sadness that hangs over the characters. No matter how they try to run and escape their past, this is it.

4 Son of Saul

Man looks behind him
Laokoon Filmgroup

Son of Saul, too, covers the topic of the Holocaust, except in Auschwitz. Saul (Géza Röhrig) is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the men tasked with burning the bodies of their fellow prisoners. Son of Saul is a difficult movie to watch, as many Holocaust films are, but it is both courageous and bold, offering a glimpse of resistance and hope even in the darkest times. Son of Saul won the Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival the year it came out and was the first Hungarian film to win the Academy Award for Best International Feature.

3 Roma

Woman and child lay day with their heads touching
Espectáculos Fílmicos El Coyúl

Roma was Alfonso Cuarón’s first movie in five years, but it was also one of his most intimate films. A maid (Yalitza Aparicio) lives in Mexico City with a middle-class family. After the father leaves the family, the world becomes too challenging. She discovers she’s pregnant, but her boyfriend leaves, and she has to navigate life while pregnant without him. Roma is set in 1970s Mexico, a turbulent era of Mexican history, only adding fire and more conflict to the story. Roma swept nominations at the Academy Awards that year, becoming the first movie since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to have that many nominations.

Related: 15 Saddest Movies That Are Certified Tearjerkers

2 A Separation

Man and woman look at each other through glass door
Filmiran

Asghar Farhadi came blazing on the global stage with his 2011 movie A Separation. Simin (Leila Hatami) is married to Nader (Peyman Moaadi). They have a daughter, Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), but after Simin files for divorce, Termeh chooses to stay with her father. Nader’s father has Alzheimer’s, and a Tehrani woman from the suburbs hired to take care of him begins to clash with Nader. A Separation is a brilliant film, mixing drama and suspense to create a tense atmosphere. It also exposes gender, religious, and familial issues in contemporary Iran in a nuanced manner. This allows a foreign audience to comprehend the gravity of the situation rather than being left in the dark.

1 Parasite

Woman holds cake at birthday party
Barunson E&A

Parasite is a historic film; not only was it the first Korean film to win the Palm d’Or at Cannes, but it swept the Academy Awards and was the first non-English language film to win Best Picture. A family (Song Kang-ho, Choi Woo-sik, Pak So-dam, and Jang Hye-jin) successfully finds employment through a rich family. Parasite is a black comedy thriller, and it lives up to that. The movie starts lighthearted but begins to morph into something monstrous by the end, leaving viewers asking what happened to cause all of this.