# List of submissions to the 49th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

This is a list of submissions to the 49th 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 49th Academy Awards, twenty-four films were submitted in the category Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Japan failed to submit a film, for the first and only time, while East Germany received its only nomination ever for Jacob the Liar. The five nominated films came from the Ivory Coast, East Germany, France, Italy and Poland.
Ivory Coast won for the first time with Black and White in Color by Jean-Jacques Annaud.

## Submissions

| Submitting country | Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language(s) | Director(s) | Result |
| Argentina | Yesterday's Guys Used No Arsenic | Los muchachos de antes no usaban arsénico | Spanish | José A. Martínez Suárez | Not nominated |
| Belgium | High Street | Rue Haute | French | André Ernotte | Not nominated |
| Brazil | Xica | Xica da Silva | Brazilian Portuguese | Carlos Diegues | Not nominated |
| Czechoslovakia | One Silver Piece | Jeden Stříbrný | Czech | Jaroslav Balík | Not nominated |
| Denmark | The Olsen Gang Sees Red | Olsen-banden ser rødt | Danish | Erik Balling | Not nominated |
| Egypt | Whom Should We Shoot? | على من نطلق الرصاص | Arabic | Kamal El Sheikh | Not nominated |
| France | Cousin, Cousine | Cousin, Cousine | French | Jean-Charles Tacchella | Nominated |
| East Germany | Jacob the Liar | Jakob der Lügner | German | Frank Beyer | Nominated |
| West Germany | The Clown | Ansichten eines Clowns | German | Vojtěch Jasný | Not nominated |
| Hong Kong | The Last Tempest | 瀛台泣血 | Mandarin | Han Hsiang Li | Not nominated |
| Hungary | The Fifth Seal | Az ötödik pecsét | Hungarian | Zoltán Fábri | Not nominated |
| Italy | Seven Beauties | Pasqualino Settebellezze | Italian | Lina Wertmüller | Nominated |
| Ivory Coast | Black and White in Color | Noirs et blancs en couleur | French, English | Jean-Jacques Annaud | Won Academy Award |
| Mexico | Length of War | Longitud de guerra | Spanish | Gonzalo Martínez Ortega | Not nominated |
| Netherlands | Max Havelaar | Max Havelaar of de koffieveilingen der Nederlandsche handelsmaatschappij | Dutch, Indonesian | Fons Rademakers | Not nominated |
| Philippines | Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon | Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon | Tagalog, Filipino, English, Spanish | Eddie Romero | Not nominated |
| Poland | Nights and Days | Noce i dnie | Polish | Jerzy Antczak | Nominated |
| Romania | The Doom | Osânda | Romanian | Sergiu Nicolaescu | Not nominated |
| Soviet Union | They Fought For Their Motherland | Они сражались за родину | Russian | Sergei Bondarchuk | Not nominated |
| Spain | Raise Ravens | Cría cuervos | Spanish | Carlos Saura | Not nominated |
| Sweden | City of My Dreams | Mina drömmars stad | Swedish | Ingvar Skogsberg | Not nominated |
| Switzerland | Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 | Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000 | French | Alain Tanner | Not nominated |
| Taiwan | Eight Hundred Heroes | 八百壮士 | Mandarin | Ting Shan-hsi | Not nominated |
| Yugoslavia | The Rat Savior | Izbavitelj | Serbo-Croatian | Krsto Papić | Not nominated |