# List of submissions to the 72nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

This is a list of submissions to the 72nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was created in 1956 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to honour non-English-speaking films produced outside the United States. The award is handed out annually, and is accepted by the winning film's director, although it is considered an award for the submitting country as a whole. Countries are invited by the Academy to submit their best films for competition according to strict rules, with only one film being accepted from each country.
For the 72nd Academy Awards, the Academy invited 75 countries to submit films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The submission deadline was set on November 1, 1999. Forty-seven countries submitted films to the Academy, surpassing the record set in 1994. The Asian nations of Bhutan, Nepal and Tajikistan submitted films for the first time ever. The nominations were announced on February 15, 2000, and the winner was revealed during the awards presentation held on March 26, 2000. Belgium's submission Rosetta was not nominated, even though it had received the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival the previous year. Nepal received its first and so far only nomination for Himalaya: Caravan, a film made in the Tibetan language, which is spoken in parts of Nepal, about the country's disappearing salt-trade system. The four other nominated films came from France, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The latter received its nomination for Solomon & Gaenor, the first film made entirely in Welsh and Yiddish.
Spain won the award for the third time with All About My Mother by Pedro Almodóvar.

## Submissions

| Submitting country | Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language(s) | Director(s) | Result |
| Argentina | Manuelita | Manuelita | Spanish | Manuel García Ferré | Not nominated |
| Austria | Northern Skirts | Nordrand | German | Barbara Albert | Not nominated |
| Belgium | Rosetta | Rosetta | French | Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne | Not nominated |
| Bhutan | The Cup | ཕོར་པ། | Hindi, Tibetan | Khyentse Norbu | Not nominated |
| Brazil | Orfeu | Orfeu | Brazilian Portuguese | Carlos Diegues | Not nominated |
| Canada | Set Me Free | Emporte-moi | French | Léa Pool | Not nominated |
| China | Lover's Grief over the Yellow River | 黄河绝恋 | Mandarin | Feng Xiaoning | Not nominated |
| Colombia | Time Out | Golpe de estadio | Spanish | Sergio Cabrera | Not nominated |
| Croatia | Red Dust | Crvena prašina | Croatian | Zrinko Ogresta | Not nominated |
| Czech Republic | The Idiot Returns | Návrat idiota | Czech | Saša Gedeon | Not nominated |
| Denmark | Mifune | Mifunes sidste sang | Danish | Søren Kragh-Jacobsen | Not nominated |
| Finland | The Tough Ones | Häjyt | Finnish | Aleksi Mäkelä | Not nominated |
| France | East-West | Est-Ouest | French, Russian | Régis Wargnier | Nominated |
| Georgia | Here Comes the Dawn | აქ თენდება | Georgian | Zaza Urushadze | Not nominated |
| Germany | Aimée & Jaguar | Aimée und Jaguar | German | Max Färberböck | Not nominated |
| Greece | From the Edge of the City | Από την άκρη της πόλης | Greek, Russian | Constantinos Giannaris | Not nominated |
| Hong Kong | Ordinary Heroes | 千言萬語 | Cantonese | Ann Hui | Not nominated |
| Hungary | The Lord's Lantern in Budapest | Nekem lámpást adott kezembe az Úr Pesten | Hungarian | Miklós Jancsó | Not nominated |
| Iceland | The Honour of the House | Ungfrúin góða og húsið | Icelandic | Guðný Halldórsdóttir | Not nominated |
| India | Earth | अर्थ | Hindi, English, Parsee, Punjabi, Urdu | Deepa Mehta | Not nominated |
| Indonesia | Sri | Sri | Indonesian | Marselli Sumarno | Not nominated |
| Iran | The Colours of Paradise | رنگ خدا | Persian | Majid Majidi | Not nominated |
| Israel | Yana's Friends | החברים של יאנה | Hebrew, Russian, English | Arik Kaplun | Not nominated |
| Italy | Not of this World | Fuori dal mondo | Italian | Giuseppe Piccioni | Not nominated |
| Japan | Railroad Man | 鉄道員 | Japanese | Yasuo Furuhata | Not nominated |
| Lebanon | Around the Pink House | البيت الزهري | French, Arabic | Joana Hadjithomas Khalil Joreige | Not nominated |
| Mexico | El Coronel no tiene quien le escriba | El coronel no tiene quien le escriba | Spanish | Arturo Ripstein | Not nominated |
| Nepal | Caravan | हिमालय | Dolpo, Nepali, German | Éric Valli | Nominated |
| Netherlands | Scratches in the Table | Madelief, krassen in het tafelblad | Dutch | Ineke Houtman | Not nominated |
| Norway | The Prompter | Suffløsen | Norwegian | Hilde Heier | Not nominated |
| Peru | Captain Pantoja and the Special Services | Pantaleón y las visitadoras | Spanish | Francisco J. Lombardi | Not nominated |
| Philippines | The Kite | Saranggola | Filipino, Tagalog | Gil Portes | Not nominated |
| Poland | Pan Tadeusz | Pan Tadeusz | Polish | Andrzej Wajda | Not nominated |
| Portugal | The Mutants | Os Mutantes | Portuguese | Teresa Villaverde | Not nominated |
| Romania | The Famous Paparazzo | Faimosul paparazzo | Romanian | Nicolae Mărgineanu | Not nominated |
| Russia | Moloch | Молох | German | Alexander Sokurov | Not nominated |
| Slovakia | All My Loved Ones | Vsichni moji blízcí | Czech | Matej Mináč | Not nominated |
| Spain | All About My Mother | Todo sobre mi madre | Spanish, Catalan, English | Pedro Almodóvar | Won Academy Award |
| Sweden | Under the Sun | Under solen | Swedish | Colin Nutley | Nominated |
| Switzerland | Beresina, or The Last Days of Switzerland | Beresina oder Die letzten Tage der Schweiz | Swiss German | Daniel Schmid | Not nominated |
| Tajikistan | Luna Papa | Лунный папа | Russian | Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov | Not nominated |
| Taiwan | March of Happiness | 天馬茶房 | Taiwanese Hokkien, Japanese, Mandarin, Shanghainese | Lin Cheng-sheng | Not nominated |
| Turkey | Mrs. Salkim's Diamonds | Salkım Hanımın Taneleri | Turkish | Tomris Giritlioğlu | Not nominated |
| United Kingdom | Solomon and Gaenor | Solomon a Gaenor | Welsh, Yiddish, English | Paul Morrison | Nominated |
| Venezuela | Glue Sniffer | Huelepega: Ley de la calle | Spanish | Elia Schneider | Not nominated |
| Vietnam | Three Seasons | Ba mùa | English, Vietnamese | Tony Bui | Not nominated |
| Yugoslavia | The White Suit | Бело одело | Serbian | Lazar Ristovski | Not nominated |