The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday, that winning Israeli short films in the Haifa International Film Festival, will be eligible to compete for nomination in the Oscars Academy Awards starting next year.
The next Academy Awards ceremony will take place on October 8th.
This upgrade in the status of Haifa's film festival permits its short films to be submitted to the Oscars' contestant list without having been commercially screened in the U.S., which was a precondition for nomination.
"We're excited to receive the news that the festival was accepted into the limited and hand-picked list of the international film festivals and are proud to advance the Israeli industry," said Festival Director at Haifa International Film Festival Yaron Shamir.
"We'd like to thank the American Academy for recognizing the quality and importance of the festival and of the high level the Israeli short cinematic productions," he said.
"Haifa is a Mediterranean city of coexistence and the festival hopes to advance short films produced by Mediterranean Basin countries in the future through creating a competitive framework."
Israel's nominations for the Oscars have until now been the winners of the Ofir Prize colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars, for films, awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television.
Although Israeli film makers and movies have been nominated for the Academy Awards several times, none has brought home a golden statuette.
Recognition of the Haifa International Film Festival will increase Israel's chance in future.