# List of submissions to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

This is a list of submissions to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film every year since the award was created in 1956. The award is handed out annually by the Academy to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films.
For the 80th Academy Awards, which were held on February 24, 2008, the Academy invited 95 countries to submit films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Sixty-three countries submitted films to the Academy, the highest number of submissions in the history of the award, including Azerbaijan and Ireland, which submitted films for the first time. Several of the submissions were subject to controversy. The Academy determined that initial submissions from Israel and Taiwan did not meet Academy requirements, and both countries submitted new films as replacements. Bolivia's official submission, Los Andes no creen en Dios, did not appear on the Academy's list of accepted submissions.
Due to a change in the rules made for the 79th Academy Awards, the Academy published a shortlist of nine films on January 15, 2008, prior to the selection of the final five nominees. The Academy engendered controversy with its selections, notably the omission of Romania's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which had won the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, and France's Persepolis, the winner of the Jury Prize at the same Cannes Film Festival. After revealing the shortlist, the Academy released a list of nominees on January 22, 2008.
Austria won the award for the first time with The Counterfeiters by Stefan Ruzowitzky.

## Submissions

| Submitting country | Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language(s) | Director(s) | Result |
| Argentina | XXY | XXY | Spanish | Lucía Puenzo | Not nominated |
| Australia | The Home Song Stories | The Home Song Stories | Cantonese, English, Mandarin | Tony Ayres | Not nominated |
| Austria | The Counterfeiters | Die Fälscher | German, Russian, English, Hebrew | Stefan Ruzowitzky | Won Academy Award |
| Azerbaijan | Caucasia | Qafqaz | Azerbaijani, Russian | Farid Gumbatov | Not nominated |
| Bangladesh | On the Wings of Dreams | স্বপ্নডানায় | Bengali | Golam Rabbany Biplob | Not nominated |
| Belgium | Ben X | Ben X | Flemish, Dutch | Nic Balthazar | Not nominated |
| Bolivia | Los Andes no creen en Dios | Los Andes no creen en Dios | Spanish | Antonio Eguino | Disqualified |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | It's Hard to be Nice | Teško je biti fin | Bosnian | Srdan Vuletic | Not nominated |
| Brazil | The Year My Parents Went On Vacation | O Ano em que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias | Brazilian Portuguese, Yiddish | Cao Hamburger | Made shortlist |
| Bulgaria | Warden of the Dead | Пазачът на мъртвите | Bulgarian | Ilian Simeonov | Not nominated |
| Canada | Days of Darkness | L'Âge des ténèbres | French | Denys Arcand | Made shortlist |
| Chile | Padre Nuestro | Padre Nuestro | Spanish, English | Rodrigo Sepúlveda | Not nominated |
| China | The Knot | 云水谣 | Mandarin | Yin Li | Not nominated |
| Colombia | Satanás | Satanás | Spanish | Andi Baiz | Not nominated |
| Croatia | Armin | Armin | Bosnian, Croatian, German, English | Ognjen Sviličić | Not nominated |
| Cuba | The Silly Age | La Edad de la peseta | Spanish | Pavel Giroud | Not nominated |
| Czech Republic | I Served the King of England | Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále | Czech | Jiri Menzel | Not nominated |
| Denmark | The Art of Crying | Kunsten at græde i kor | Danish | Peter Schønau Fog | Not nominated |
| Egypt | In the Heliopolis Flat | في شقة مصر الجديدة | Arabic | Mohamed Khan | Not nominated |
| Estonia | The Class | Klass | Estonian | Ilmar Raag | Not nominated |
| Finland | A Man's Job | Miehen työ | Finnish | Aleksi Salmenperä | Not nominated |
| France | Persepolis | Persepolis | French, English, Persian, German | Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi | Not nominated |
| Georgia | The Russian Triangle | რუსული სამკუთხედი | Russian | Aleko Tsabadze | Not nominated |
| Germany | The Edge of Heaven | Auf der anderen Seite | German, Turkish, English | Fatih Akin | Not nominated |
| Greece | Eduart | Eduart | Albanian, German, Greek | Angeliki Antoniou | Not nominated |
| Hong Kong | Exiled | 放逐 | Cantonese, Mandarin | Johnnie To | Not nominated |
| Hungary | Taxidermia | Taxidermia | Hungarian, English, Russian | György Pálfi | Not nominated |
| Iceland | Jar City | Mýrin | Icelandic | Baltasar Kormakur | Not nominated |
| India | Eklavya: The Royal Guard | एकलव्य | Hindi | Vidhu Vinod Chopra | Not nominated |
| Indonesia | Denias, Singing on the Cloud | Denias Senandung Di Atas Awan | Indonesian, Papuan Malay | John De Rantau | Not nominated |
| Iran | M for Mother | میم مثل مادر | Persian | Rasul Mollagholipour | Not nominated |
| Iraq | Jani Gal | Jani Gal | Kurdish | Jamil Rostami | Not nominated |
| Ireland | Kings | Kings | Irish, English | Tommy Collins | Not nominated |
| Israel | Beaufort | בופור | Hebrew | Joseph Cedar | Nominated |
| Italy | La sconosciuta | La sconosciuta | Italian | Giuseppe Tornatore | Made shortlist |
| Japan | I Just Didn't Do It | それでもボクはやってない | Japanese | Masayuki Suo | Not nominated |
| Kazakhstan | Mongol | Монгол | Mongolian, Mandarin | Sergei Bodrov | Nominated |
| Lebanon | Caramel | سكر بنات | Lebanese Arabic, French | Nadine Labaki | Not nominated |
| Luxembourg | Little Secrets | Perl oder Pica | Luxembourgish | Pol Cruchten | Not nominated |
| Macedonia | Shadows | Сенки | Macedonian | Milčo Mančevski | Not nominated |
| Mexico | Silent Light | Stellet licht | Plautdietsch | Carlos Reygadas | Not nominated |
| Netherlands | Duska | Duska | Dutch, Russian | Jos Stelling | Not nominated |
| Norway | Gone with the Woman | Tatt av Kvinnen | Norwegian, English, French | Petter Naess | Not nominated |
| Peru | Crossing a Shadow | Una sombra al frente | Spanish | Augusto Tamayo | Not nominated |
| Philippines | Donsol | Donsol | Bikol, Tagalog, Filipino | Adolfo Alix, Jr. | Not nominated |
| Poland | Katyń | Katyń | Polish, Russian, German | Andrzej Wajda | Nominated |
| Portugal | Belle Toujours | Belle Toujours | French | Manoel de Oliveira | Not nominated |
| Puerto Rico | Love Sickness | Maldeamores | Spanish | Mariem Perez, Carlitos Ruiz | Not nominated |
| Romania | 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days | 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile | Romanian | Cristian Mungiu | Not nominated |
| Russia | 12 | 12 | Russian, Chechen | Nikita Mikhalkov | Nominated |
| Serbia | The Trap | Klopka | Serbian | Srdan Golubović | Made shortlist |
| Singapore | 881 | 881 | Mandarin, Hokkien | Royston Tan | Not nominated |
| Slovakia | Return of the Storks | Návrat bocianov | German, Slovak | Martin Repka | Not nominated |
| Slovenia | Short Circuits | Kratki stiki | Slovene | Janez Lapajne | Not nominated |
| South Korea | Secret Sunshine | 밀양 | Korean | Lee Chang-dong | Not nominated |
| Spain | The Orphanage | El orfanato | Spanish | Juan Antonio Bayona | Not nominated |
| Sweden | You, the Living | Du levande | Swedish | Roy Andersson | Not nominated |
| Switzerland | Late Bloomers | Die Herbstzeitlosen | Swiss German | Bettina Oberli | Not nominated |
| Taiwan | Island Etude | 練習曲 | Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, English, Lithuanian | Chen Huai-En | Not nominated |
| Thailand | King of Fire | ตำนานสมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช | Thai, Mon, Burmese | Chatrichalerm Yukol | Not nominated |
| Turkey | A Man's Fear of God | Takva | Turkish | Özer Kızıltan | Not nominated |
| Uruguay | The Pope's Toilet | El Baño del Papa | Spanish | Cesar Charlone, Enrique Fernandez | Not nominated |
| Venezuela | Postcards from Leningrad | Postales de Leningrado | Spanish | Mariana Rondon | Not nominated |
| Vietnam | The White Silk Dress | Áo lụa Hà Đông | Vietnamese | Luu Huynh | Not nominated |