What do *foreign films* mean for an American? [closed]

What do foreign films mean for an American? Is it any film produced outside the US or any film from not English-language country (US, Canada, Australia, NZ, UK)?

Solution 1:

"Foreign films" are produced outside the US. "Foreign language films" are films primarily in a language other than English. Two different things.

I would also say that films with US production companies, but filmed in Canada (or Hungary, or ...) for financial reasons, will not be considered "foreign films".

Solution 2:

I doubt if an authoritative answer possible but one option is to refer to Wikipedia’s entry for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film:

The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.

This assumes foreign film and foreign-language film used synonymously by most Americans.

Solution 3:

Hollywood follows a formula. The primary allure of foreign films is that they don't follow this formula. An English dub over a foreign film might not be ideal but it doesn't stop it from being a foreign film. Bollywood films are so clearly from Bollywood. It's the same for Hollywood. To most Americans "foreign film" means: not another typical Hollywood movie.