# List of submissions to the 70th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

This is a list of submissions to the 70th 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 70th Academy Awards, forty-four films were submitted in the category Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The submission deadline was set on November 1, 1997. The highlighted titles were the five nominated films, which came from Brazil, Germany, Russia and Spain and Netherlands. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Luxembourg and Ukraine submitted a film for the first time. South Africa sent its first film since the end of apartheid.
Netherlands won the award for the third time with Character by Mike van Diem.

## Submissions

| Submitting country | Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language(s) | Director(s) | Result |
| Argentina | Ashes of Paradise | Cenizas del paraíso | Spanish | Marcelo Piñeyro | Not nominated |
| Austria | The Unfish | Der Unfisch | German | Robert Dornhelm | Not nominated |
| Belgium | My Life in Pink | Ma Vie en Rose | French | Alain Berliner | Not nominated |
| Brazil | Four Days in September | O que é isso, companheiro? | Brazilian Portuguese | Bruno Barreto | Nominated |
| Canada | Cosmos | Cosmos | French | Jennifer Alleyn, Manon Briand, Marie-Julie Dallaire, Arto Paragamian, André Turpin & Denis Villeneuve | Not nominated |
| Colombia | The Debt | La deuda | Spanish | Manuel José Álvarez & Nicolás Buenaventura | Not nominated |
| Croatia | Lapitch the Little Shoemaker | Čudnovate zgode šegrta Hlapića | Croatian, English, German | Milan Blažeković | Not nominated |
| Cuba | Vertical Love | Amor vertical | Spanish | Arturo Sotto Díaz | Not nominated |
| Czech Republic | A Forgotten Light | Zapomenuté světlo | Czech | Vladimír Michálek | Not nominated |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Macadam Tribu | Macadam Tribu | French | Zeka Laplaine | Not nominated |
| Denmark | Barbara | Barbara | Danish | Nils Malmros | Not nominated |
| Egypt | Destiny | المصير | Egyptian Arabic, French, Spanish | Youssef Chahine | Not nominated |
| Finland | The Collector | Neitoperho | Finnish | Auli Mantila | Not nominated |
| France | Western | Western | French | Manuel Poirier | Not nominated |
| Germany | Beyond Silence | Jenseits der Stille | German, German Sign Language | Caroline Link | Nominated |
| Greece | Slaughter of the Cock | Η Σφαγή του Κόκορα | Greek | Andreas Pantzis | Not nominated |
| Hungary | The Witman Boys | Witman fiúk | Hungarian | János Szász | Not nominated |
| India | Guru | ഗുരു | Malayalam | Rajeev Anchal | Not nominated |
| Iceland | Blossi/810551 | Blossi/810551 | Icelandic | Júlíus Kemp | Not nominated |
| Iran | Gabbeh | گبه | Persian | Mohsen Makhmalbaf | Not nominated |
| Israel | Pick a Card | עפולה אקספרס | Hebrew | Julie Shles | Not nominated |
| Italy | The Best Man | Il testimone dello sposo | Italian | Pupi Avati | Not nominated |
| Japan | Princess Mononoke | もののけ姫 | Japanese | Hayao Miyazaki | Not nominated |
| Luxembourg | Women | Elles | French | Luís Galvão Teles | Not nominated |
| Macedonia | Gypsy Magic | Џипси меџик | Macedonian | Stole Popov | Not nominated |
| Mexico | Deep Crimson | Profundo Carmesí | Spanish | Arturo Ripstein | Not nominated |
| Netherlands | Character | Karakter | Dutch | Mike van Diem | Won Academy Award |
| Norway | Junk Mail | Budbringeren | Norwegian | Pål Sletaune | Not nominated |
| Philippines | Milagros | Milagros | Tagalog, Filipino | Marilou Diaz-Abaya | Not nominated |
| Poland | Love Stories | Historie Miłosne | Polish | Jerzy Stuhr | Not nominated |
| Portugal | Journey to the Beginning of the World | Voyage au début du monde, Viagem ao Princípio do Mundo | French, Portuguese | Manoel de Oliveira | Not nominated |
| Russia | The Thief | Вор | Russian | Pavel Chukhray | Nominated |
| Slovakia | Orbis Pictus | Orbis Pictus | Slovak | Martin Šulík | Not nominated |
| Slovenia | Outsider | Avtsajder | Slovene | Andrej Košak | Not nominated |
| South Africa | Paljas | Paljas | Afrikaans | Katinka Heyns | Not nominated |
| Spain | Secrets of the Heart | Secretos del corazón | Spanish | Montxo Armendáriz | Nominated |
| Sweden | Tic Tac | Tic Tac | Swedish | Daniel Alfredson | Not nominated |
| Switzerland | For Ever Mozart | For Ever Mozart | French | Jean-Luc Godard | Not nominated |
| Taiwan | Yours and Mine | 我的神经病 | Mandarin | Shaudi Wang | Not nominated |
| Thailand | Daughter 2 | เสียดาย 2 | Thai | Chatrichalerm Yukol | Not nominated |
| Turkey | The Bandit | Eşkıya | Turkish | Yavuz Turgul | Not nominated |
| Ukraine | A Friend of the Deceased | Приятель покойника / Приятель небіжчика | Russian, Ukrainian | Vyacheslav Krishtofovich | Not nominated |
| Venezuela | One Life and Two Trails | Una vida y dos mandados | Spanish | Alberto Arvelo | Not nominated |
| Yugoslavia | Three Summer Days | Три летња дана | Serbian | Mirjana Vukomanović | Not nominated |