The following 37 films, all from different countries, were submitted for the 62nd Academy Awards in the category Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film which took place in 1990. The bolded titles were the five nominated films, which came from Canada, Denmark, France, Italy (winner) and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was nominated for the first (and as of 2010, only) time.
| Country | Film title used in nomination | Language | Original title | Director | IMDB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | La Amiga | (Spanish) (German) | La Amiga | Jeanine Meerapfel | [1] |
| Austria | The Seventh Continent | (German) | Der Siebente Kontinent | Michael Haneke | [2] |
| Belgium | The Sacrament | (Dutch) | Het Sacrament | Hugo Claus | [3] |
| Brazil | Better Days Ahead | (Portuguese) | Dias Melhores Virão | Carlos Diegues | [4] |
| Bulgaria | Time of Violence | (Bulgarian) | Време на насилие | Ludmil Staikov | [5] |
| Burkina Faso | Yaaba | More | Yaaba[1] | Idrissa Ouedraogo | [6] |
| Canada | Jesus of Montreal | (French) | Jésus de Montréal | Denys Arcand | [7] |
| China | The Birth of New China | (Chinese) | 开国大典 | Qiankuan Li | [8] |
| Cuba | Supporting Roles | (Spanish) | Papeles secundarios | Orlando Rojas | [9] |
| Czechoslovakia | A Hoof Here, a Hoof There | (Czech) | Kopytem sem, kopytem tam | Věra Chytilová | [10] |
| Denmark | Memories of a Marriage | (Danish) | Danser med Regitze | Kaspar Rostrup | [11] |
| France | Camille Claudel | (French) | Camille Claudel[1] | Bruno Nuytten | [12] |
| West Germany | Spider's Web | (German) | Das Spinnenetz | Bernhard Wicki | [13] |
| Greece | Landscape in the Mist | (Greek) | Τοπίο στην ομίχλη | Theodoros Angelopoulos | [14] |
| Hong Kong | Painted Faces | (Cantonese) | 七小福 | Alex Law | [15] |
| Hungary | My 20th Century | (Hungarian) | Az Én XX. századom | Ildikó Enyedi | [16] |
| Iceland | Under the Glacier | (Icelandic) | Kristnihald undir jökli | Guðný Halldórsdóttir | [17] |
| India | Parinda | (Hindi) | परिंदा | Vidhu Vinod Chopra | [18] |
| Indonesia | Tjoet Nja' Dhien | (Indonesian) | Tjoet Nja' Dhien | Eros Djarot | [19] |
| Israel | One of Us | (Hebrew) | אחד משלנו | Uri Barbash | [20] |
| Italy | Cinema Paradiso (winner) | (Italian) | Nuovo Cinema Paradiso | Giuseppe Tornatore | [21] |
| Japan | Rikyu | (Japanese) | 利休 | Hiroshi Teshigahara | [22] |
| Netherlands | Polonaise | (Dutch) | Leedvermaak | Frans Weisz | [23] |
| Norway | A Handful of Time | (Norwegian) | En håndfull tid | Martin Asphaug | [24] |
| Poland | Kornblumenblau | (Polish) | Kornblumenblau[2] | Leszek Wosiewicz | [25] |
| Portugal | The Cannibals | (Portuguese) | Os Canibais | Manoel de Oliveira | [26] |
| Puerto Rico | Santiago, the Story of his New Life | (Spanish) | Lo que le pasó a Santiago | Jacobo Morales | [27] |
| Romania | Those Who Pay With Their Lives | (Romanian) | Cei care plătesc cu viaţa | Şerban Marinescu | [28] |
| South Africa | Mapantsula[3] | Zulu | Mapantsula | Oliver Schmitz | [29] |
| Spain | Love, Hate and Death | (Spanish) | Montoyas y Tarantos | Vicente Escrivá | [30] |
| Sweden | Women on the Roof | (Swedish) | Kvinnor på taket | Carl-Gustav Nykvist | [31] |
| Switzerland | My Favorite Story | (French) | Mon cher sujet | Anne-Marie Miéville | [32] |
| Taiwan | A City of Sadness | (Chinese) (Cantonese, Mandarin, Shanghainese) | 悲情城市 | Hou Hsiao-hsien | [33] |
| Thailand | The Elephant Keeper | (Thai) | คนเลี้ยงช้าง | Chatrichalerm Yukol | [34] |
| Turkey | Don't Let Them Shoot the Kite | (Turkish) | Uçurtmayi Vurmasinlar | Tunç Basaran | [35] |
| Soviet Union | Zero City | (Russian) | Город Зеро | Karen Shakhnazarov | [36] |
| Yugoslavia | Time of the Gypsies | (Romany) (Serbian) | Dom za vesanje | Emir Kusturica | [37] |