The following 32 films, all from different countries, were submitted for the 57th Academy Awards in the category Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The titles highlighted in blue and yellow were the five nominated films, which came from Argentina, Israel, Spain, Switzerland (the eventual winner) and the USSR.
Thailand submitted a film for the first time.
| Country | Film title used in nomination | Language | Original title | Director | IMDB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Camila | (Spanish) | Camila | María Luisa Bemberg | [1] |
| Austria | Just Behind the Door | (German) | Dicht hinter der Tür | Mansur Mahdavi | [2] |
| Brazil | Memoirs of Prison | (Portuguese) | Memórias do Cárcere | Nelson Pereira dos Santos | [3] |
| Canada | Sonatine | (French) | Sonatine | Micheline Lanctôt | [4] |
| China | Life | (Chinese) | 人生 (Ren Sheng) | Tian-Ming Wu | [5] |
| Colombia | A Man of Principle | (Spanish) | Cóndores no entierran todos los días | Francisco Norden | [6] |
| Czechoslovakia | The Millennial Bee | (Slovak) (Czech) | Tisícročná včela | Juraj Jakubisko | [7] |
| Denmark | Tukuma | (Danish) | Tukuma | Palle Kjærulff-Schmidt | [8] |
| Finland | Pessi and Illusia | (Finnish) | Pessi ja Illusia | Heikki Partanen | [9] |
| France | Tchao Pantin | (French) | Tchao Pantin | Claude Berri | [10] |
| West Germany | Man Under Suspcion | (German) | Morgen in Alabama | Norbert Kückelman | [11] |
| Hong Kong | Homecoming | (Cantonese) (Mandarin) | 似水流年 | Yim Ho | [12] |
| Hungary | Yerma | (Hungarian) | Yerma | Imre Gyöngyössy and Barna Kabay | [13] |
| Iceland | When the Raven Flies (Revenge of the Barbarians) | (Icelandic) | Hrafninn flýgur | Hrafn Gunnlaugsson | [14] |
| India | The Gist | (Hindi) | Saaransh | Mahesh Bhatt | [15] |
| Israel | Beyond the Walls | (Hebrew) | מאחורי הסורגים | Uri Barbash | [16] |
| Italy | Where's Picone? | (Italian) | Mi manda Picone | Nanni Loy | [17] |
| Japan | MacArthur's Children | (Japanese) | 瀬戸内少年野球団 | Masahiro Shinoda | [18] |
| South Korea | Moulleya, Moulleya | (Korean) | 여인잔혹사 물레야 물레야 | Doo-yong Lee | [19] |
| Netherlands | The Little Darlings (Army Brats) | (Dutch) | Schatjes! | Ruud van Hemert | [20] |
| Norway | The Headman | (Norwegian) | Høvdingen | Terje Kristiansen | [21] |
| Philippines | Of the Flesh | (Tagalog) | Karnal | Marilou Diaz-Abaya | [22] |
| Portugal | Dead Mans Seat | (Portuguese) | O Lugar do Morto | António-Pedro Vasconcelos | [23] |
| Romania | Glissando | (Romanian) | Glissando | Mircea Daneliuc | [24] |
| Spain | Double Feature | (Spanish) | Sesión continua | José Luis Garci | [25] |
| Sweden | Åke and His World | (Swedish) | Åke och hans värld | Allan Edwall | [26] |
| Switzerland | Dangerous Moves (Winner) | (French) | La Diagonale du fou | Richard Dembo | [27] |
| Taiwan | Old Mo's Second Spring | (Chinese) | 老莫的第二个春天 | You-ning Lee | [28] |
| Thailand | The Story of Nampoo | (Thai) | น้ำพุ | Yuthana Mukdasanit | [29] |
| Soviet Union | Wartime Romance | (Russian) | Военно-полевой роман | Pyotr Todorovsky | [30] |
| Venezuela | La Casa de agua | (Spanish) | La Casa de agua | Jacobo Penzo | [31] |
| Yugoslavia | The End of the War | (Serbian) | Kraj Rata | Dragan Kresoja | [32] |
Source: Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences