# List of submissions to the 88th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

This is a list of submissions to the 88th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) 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 presented 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. Nine shortlisted contenders were revealed a week before the announcement of the Oscar nominations.
The submitted motion pictures must be first released theatrically in their respective countries between 1 October 2014, and 30 September 2015.
The deadline for submissions was 1 October 2015, with the Academy announcing a list of eligible films later that month. A total of 81 countries submitted a film before the deadline, with Paraguay submitting a film for the first time with the documentary Cloudy Times, directed by Arami Ullon. The Academy announced a list of eligible submissions in October 2015. Nine finalists from among the dozens of entries were shortlisted on 17 December. The final five nominees were announced on 14 January 2016.
Hungary won the award for the second time with Son of Saul by László Nemes.

## Submissions

| Submitting Country | Film Title used in nomination | Original Title | Language(s) | Director(s) | Result |
| Afghanistan | Utopia | آرمان شهر | Dari, English, Hindi, Persian | Hassan Nazer | Disqualified |
| Albania | Bota | Bota | Albanian | Iris Elezi [de] and Thomas Logoreci | Not nominated |
| Algeria | Twilight of Shadows | غروب الظلال | Arabic, French | Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina | Not nominated |
| Argentina | The Clan | El Clan | Spanish | Pablo Trapero | Not nominated |
| Australia | Arrows of the Thunder Dragon | Arrows of the Thunder Dragon | Dzongkha | Greg Sneddon | Not nominated |
| Austria | Goodnight Mommy | Ich seh, ich seh | German | Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz | Not nominated |
| Bangladesh | Jalal's Story | জালালের গল্প | Bengali | Abu Shahed Emon | Not nominated |
| Belgium | The Brand New Testament | Le Tout Nouveau Testament | French | Jaco Van Dormael | Made shortlist |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Our Everyday Life | Naša svakodnevna priča | Bosnian | Ines Tanović [bs] | Not nominated |
| Brazil | The Second Mother | Que horas ela volta? | Brazilian Portuguese | Anna Muylaert | Not nominated |
| Bulgaria | The Judgment | Съдилището | Bulgarian | Stephan Komandarev | Not nominated |
| Cambodia | The Last Reel | ដុំហ្វីលចុងក្រោយ | Khmer | Kulikar Sotho | Not nominated |
| Canada | Felix and Meira | Félix et Meira | French, Yiddish, English, Spanish, Hebrew, Italian | Maxime Giroux | Not nominated |
| Chile | The Club | El Club | Spanish | Pablo Larraín | Not nominated |
| China | Go Away Mr. Tumor | 滚蛋吧！肿瘤君 | Mandarin | Han Yan [zh] | Not nominated |
| Colombia | Embrace of the Serpent | El abrazo de la serpiente | Cubeo, Ocaina, German, Huitoto, Bora, Andoque, Yucuna, Muinane, Spanish, Ticuna, Wanano, Catalan, Brazilian Portuguese, Latin, English | Ciro Guerra | Nominated |
| Costa Rica | Presos | Presos | Spanish | Esteban Ramírez [es] | Not nominated |
| Croatia | The High Sun | Zvizdan | Croatian, Serbian | Dalibor Matanić | Not nominated |
| Czech Republic | Home Care | Domácí péče | Czech | Slávek Horák | Not nominated |
| Denmark | A War | Krigen | Danish, Pashto, Arabic, English | Tobias Lindholm | Nominated |
| Dominican Republic | Sand Dollars | Dólares de Arena | Spanish, English, French | Laura Amelia Guzmán, Israel Cárdenas | Not nominated |
| Estonia | 1944 | 1944 | Estonian, Russian, German | Elmo Nüganen | Not nominated |
| Ethiopia | Lamb | Lamb | Amharic | Yared Zeleke | Not nominated |
| Finland | The Fencer | Miekkailija | Estonian, Russian | Klaus Härö | Made shortlist |
| France | Mustang | Mustang | Turkish | Deniz Gamze Ergüven | Nominated |
| Georgia | Moira | მოირა | Georgian | Levan Tutberidze [ka] | Not nominated |
| Germany | Labyrinth of Lies | Im Labyrinth des Schweigens | German, English, Hebrew | Giulio Ricciarelli | Made shortlist |
| Greece | Xenia | Ξενία | Greek, Albanian, Italian | Panos H. Koutras | Not nominated |
| Guatemala | Ixcanul | Ixcanul | Kaqchikel, Spanish | Jayro Bustamante | Not nominated |
| Hong Kong | To the Fore | 破風 | Mandarin, Cantonese, English, Italian, Korean | Dante Lam | Not nominated |
| Hungary | Son of Saul | Saul fia | Hungarian, Yiddish, German, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Czech, Greek, Hebrew | László Nemes | Won Academy Award |
| Iceland | Rams | Hrútar | Icelandic | Grímur Hákonarson | Not nominated |
| India | Court | कोर्ट | Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, English | Chaitanya Tamhane | Not nominated |
| Iran | Muhammad: The Messenger of God | محمد رسول‌الله | Persian, Arabic | Majid Majidi | Not nominated |
| Iraq | Memories on Stone | Bîranînen li ser kevirî | Kurdish | Shawkat Amin Korki | Not nominated |
| Ireland | Viva | Viva | Spanish | Paddy Breathnach | Made shortlist |
| Israel | Baba Joon | באבא ג'ון / بابا جون | Persian | Yuval Delshad | Not nominated |
| Italy | Don't Be Bad | Non essere cattivo | Italian | Claudio Caligari | Not nominated |
| Ivory Coast | Run | Run | French | Philippe Lacôte | Not nominated |
| Japan | 100 Yen Love | 百円の恋 | Japanese | Masaharu Take | Not nominated |
| Jordan | Theeb | ذيب | Arabic, English, Turkish | Naji Abu Nowar | Nominated |
| Kazakhstan | Stranger | Жат | Kazakh | Ermek Tursunov | Not nominated |
| Kosovo | Babai | Babai | Albanian, German, Serbian, English, Italian | Visar Morina [de] | Not nominated |
| Kyrgyzstan | Heavenly Nomadic | Сутак | Kyrgyz | Mirlan Abdykalykov | Not nominated |
| Latvia | Modris | Modris | Latvian, Russian | Juris Kursietis | Not nominated |
| Lebanon | Void | وينن | Arabic | Tarek Korkomaz, Zeina Makki [ar], Jad Beyrouthy, Christelle Ighniades, Salim Habr, Maria Abdel Karim and Naji Bechara | Not nominated |
| Lithuania | The Summer of Sangailė | Sangailės vasara | Lithuanian | Alantė Kavaitė [lt] | Not nominated |
| Luxembourg | Baby(a)lone | Baby(a)lone | Luxembourgish | Donato Rotunno [it] | Not nominated |
| Macedonia | Honey Night | Медена ноќ | Macedonian | Ivo Trajkov [de] | Not nominated |
| Malaysia | Men Who Save the World | Lelaki Harapan Dunia | Malay | Liew Seng Tat | Not nominated |
| Mexico | 600 Miles | 600 Miles | Spanish, English | Gabriel Ripstein | Not nominated |
| Montenegro | You Carry Me | Ti mene nosiš | Croatian | Ivona Juka | Not nominated |
| Morocco | Aida | عايدة | Arabic, Hebrew, French | Driss Mrini | Not nominated |
| Nepal | Talakjung vs Tulke | टलकजंग भर्सेस टुल्के | Nepali | Nischal Basnet | Not nominated |
| Netherlands | The Paradise Suite | The Paradise Suite | Bulgarian, Swedish, French, Bosnian, Serbian, Dutch, English, Russian | Joost van Ginkel [nl] | Not nominated |
| Norway | The Wave | Bølgen | Norwegian, Danish | Roar Uthaug | Not nominated |
| Pakistan | Moor | ماں, مور | Urdu, Pashto | Jami | Not nominated |
| Palestine | The Wanted 18 | The Wanted 18 | Arabic, English, Hebrew | Paul Cowan, Amer Shomali | Not nominated |
| Panama | Box 25 | Caja 25 | Spanish | Mercedes Arias and Delfina Vidal | Not on the final list |
| Paraguay | Cloudy Times | El tiempo nublado | Spanish, English | Arami Ullon | Not nominated |
| Peru | NN | NN: Sin identidad | Spanish | Héctor Gálvez | Not nominated |
| Philippines | Heneral Luna | Heneral Luna | Filipino, English, Spanish, French, Kinaray-a, Hiligaynon | Jerrold Tarog | Not nominated |
| Poland | 11 Minutes | 11 Minut | Polish, English | Jerzy Skolimowski | Not nominated |
| Portugal | Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One | As Mil e Uma Noites: Volume 2 - O Desolado | Portuguese, English, French, German, Mandarin | Miguel Gomes | Not nominated |
| Romania | Aferim! | Aferim! | Romanian, Romani, Turkish | Radu Jude | Not nominated |
| Russia | Sunstroke | Солнечный удар | Russian | Nikita Mikhalkov | Not nominated |
| Serbia | Enclave | Енклава | Serbian, Albanian, German, Italian | Goran Radovanović | Not nominated |
| Singapore | 7 Letters | 7 Letters | Malay, Hokkien, Mandarin, Malayalam, Tamil, English | Boo Junfeng, Eric Khoo, Jack Neo, K Rajagopal, Tan Pin Pin, Royston Tan and Kelvin Tong | Not nominated |
| Slovakia | Goat | Koza | Slovak, Czech, German, English | Ivan Ostrochovský [no] | Not nominated |
| Slovenia | The Tree | Drevo | Slovene, Albanian | Sonja Prosenc | Not nominated |
| South Africa | The Two of Us | Thina Sobabili | Zulu | Ernest Nkosi | Not nominated |
| South Korea | The Throne | 사도 | Korean | Lee Joon-ik | Not nominated |
| Spain | Flowers | Loreak | Basque | Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga [eu] | Not nominated |
| Sweden | A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence | En duva satt på en gren och funderade över tillvaron | Swedish | Roy Andersson | Not nominated |
| Switzerland | Iraqi Odyssey | Iraqi Odyssey | Arabic, English, German | Samir | Not nominated |
| Taiwan | The Assassin | 刺客聶隱娘 | Mandarin | Hou Hsiao-hsien | Not nominated |
| Thailand | How to Win at Checkers (Every Time) | พี่ชาย My Hero | Thai | Josh Kim | Not nominated |
| Turkey | Sivas | Sivas | Turkish | Kaan Müjdeci | Not nominated |
| United Kingdom | Under Milk Wood | Dan y Wenallt | Welsh, English | Kevin Allen | Not nominated |
| Uruguay | A Moonless Night | Una noche sin luna | Spanish | Germán Tejeira | Not nominated |
| Venezuela | Gone with the River | Dauna. Lo que lleva el río | Warao | Mario Crespo | Not nominated |
| Vietnam | Jackpot | Trúng số | Vietnamese | Dustin Nguyen | Not nominated |