The following 25 films, all from different countries, were submitted for the 54th Academy Awards in the category Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The bolded titles were the five nominated films, which came from Italy, Japan, Poland, Switzerland and the eventual winner, Hungary.
Perhaps the most notable submission was from the Soviet Union. Although it is extremely rare for documentaries to be submitted in this category, the USSR elected to send a 2-hour documentary on the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which the United States had boycotted two years before.
| Country | Film title used in nomination | Language | Original name | Director | - |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | The Underground Man | (Spanish) | El Hombre del Subsuelo | Nicolás Sarquís | [1] |
| Austria | Der Bockerer | (German) | Der Bockerer | Franz Antel | [2] |
| Belgium | Le Grand paysage d'Alexis Droeven | (French) | Le Grand paysage d'Alexis Droeven | Jean-Jacques Andrien | [3] |
| Canada | Les Plouffe | (French) | Les Plouffe | Gilles Carle | [4] |
| Czechoslovakia | Divine Emma | (Czech) | Božská Ema | Jiří Krejčík | [5] |
| Egypt | People at the Top | (Arabic) | أهل القمة | Ali Badrakhan | [6] |
| Finland | Sign of the Beast | (Finnish) | Pedon Merkki | Jaakko Pakkasvirta | [7] |
| France | Diva | (French) | Diva | Jean-Jacques Beineix | [8] |
| West Germany | Lili Marleen | (German) | Lili Marleen | Rainer Werner Fassbinder | [9] |
| Greece | The Man with the Carnation | (Greek) | Ο άνθρωπος με το γαρίφαλο | Nikos Tzimas | [10] |
| Hungary | Mephisto | (Hungarian) (German) | Mephisto | István Szabó | [11] |
| Iceland | Outlaw: The Saga of Gisli | (Icelandic) | Útlaginn | Ágúst Guðmundsson | [12] |
| Israel | A Thousand Little Kisses | (Hebrew) | אלף נשיקות קטנות | Mira Recanati | [13] |
| Italy | Three Brothers | (Italian) | Tre Fratelli | Francesco Rosi | [14] |
| Japan | Muddy River | (Japanese) | 泥の川 | Kohei Oguri | [15] |
| Mexico | Mojado Power | (Spanish) | Mojado Power | Alfonso Arau | [16] |
| Netherlands | Come-Back! | (Dutch) | Come-Back | Jonne Severijn | [17] |
| Norway | Julia Julia | (Norwegian) | Julia Julia | Petter Vennerød and Svend Wam | [18] |
| Poland | Man of Iron | (Polish) | Człowiek z żelaza | Andrzej Wajda | [19] |
| Spain | National Heritage | (Spanish) | Patrimonio nacional | Luis García Berlanga | [20] |
| Sweden | Children's Island | (Swedish) | Barnens ö | Kay Pollak | [21] |
| Switzerland | The Boat Is Full | (German) | Das Boot ist Voll | Markus Imhoof | [22] |
| Taiwan | If I Were For Real | (Chinese) | 假如我是真的 | Wang Toon | [23] |
| Soviet Union | Oh Sport, You Are Peace | (Russian) | О спорт, ты - мир! | Yuri Ozerov | [24] |
| Yugoslavia | Do You Remember Dolly Bell? | (Serbo-Croatian) | Sjećaš li se Dolly Bell? | Emir Kusturica | [25] |