# List of submissions to the 55th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

This is a list of submissions to the 55th 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 55th Academy Awards, twenty-five films were submitted in the category Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Nicaragua submitted a film for the first time. The five nominated films came from France, Nicaragua, Sweden, Soviet Union and Spain.
Spain won for the first time for Begin the Beguine by José Luis Garci.

## Submissions

| Submitting country | Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language(s) | Director(s) | Result |
| Algeria | Sandstorm | Vent de sable / رياح رملية | French, Arabic | Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina | Not nominated |
| Argentina | Last Days of the Victim | Últimos días de la víctima | Spanish | Adolfo Aristarain | Not nominated |
| Belgium | Minuet | Menuet | Dutch | Lili Rademakers | Not nominated |
| Bulgaria | Khan Asparoukh | Хан Аспарух | Bulgarian | Ludmil Staikov | Not nominated |
| Canada | Wild Flowers | Les fleurs sauvages | French | Jean Pierre Lefebvre | Not nominated |
| Czechoslovakia | The Assistant | Pomocnik | Slovak | Zoro Zahon | Not nominated |
| Denmark | Tree of Knowledge | Kundskabens træ | Danish | Nils Malmros | Not nominated |
| France | Clean Slate | Coup de Torchon | French | Bertrand Tavernier | Nominated |
| West Germany | Fitzcarraldo | Fitzcarraldo | German, Spanish, Asháninka, English | Werner Herzog | Not nominated |
| Greece | Angel | Άγγελος | Greek | Giorgos Katakouzinos | Not nominated |
| Hungary | Time Stands Still | Megáll az idö | Hungarian | Péter Gothár | Not nominated |
| Iceland | Inter Nos | Okkar á milli: Í hita og þunga dagsins | Icelandic | Hrafn Gunnlaugsson | Not nominated |
| Israel | Hamsin | חמסין | Hebrew, Arabic | Daniel Wachsmann | Not nominated |
| Italy | The Night of the Shooting Stars | La Notte di San Lorenzo | Italian | Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani | Not nominated |
| Japan | Onimasa | 鬼龍院花子の生涯 | Japanese | Hideo Gosha | Not nominated |
| Netherlands | The Cool Lakes of Death | Van de koele meren des doods | Dutch, French | Nouchka van Brakel | Not nominated |
| Nicaragua | Alsino and the Condor | Alsino y el cóndor | Spanish, English | Miguel Littín | Nominated |
| Norway | Victoria L | Leve sitt liv | Norwegian | Petter Vennerød and Svend Wam | Not nominated |
| Portugal | Francisca | Francisca | Portuguese | Manoel de Oliveira | Not nominated |
| Soviet Union | Private Life | Частная жизнь | Russian | Yuli Raizman | Nominated |
| Spain | Begin the Beguine | Volver a empezar | Spanish | José Luis Garci | Won Academy Award |
| Sweden | The Flight of the Eagle | Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd | Swedish, French | Jan Troell | Nominated |
| Switzerland | Yol | Yol | Turkish, Kurdish | Şerif Gören and Yılmaz Güney | Not nominated |
| Taiwan | The Battle for the Republic of China | 辛亥双十 | Mandarin | Ding Shan Xi | Not nominated |
| Yugoslavia | The Smell of Quinces | Miris dunja | Serbo-Croatian | Mirza Idrizović | Not nominated |