The following 63 films, all from different countries, were submitted for the 78th Academy Awards

78th Academy Awards

The 78th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2005 and were held on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, with Tom Kane making his first appearance as the show's announcer...

 in the category Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...

 (release at the country of origin October 2004 - September 2005, ceremony March 2006).

Costa Rica, Iraq and Fiji submitted films for the first time.

Submissions

Country	Film title used in nomination	Language(s)	Director	Result
	El Aura El Aura The Aura is an Argentine, French and Spanish neo-noir drama film, directed by Fabián Bielinsky, his second and final feature after Nine Queens. The picture features Ricardo Darín in the lead role, as well as Alejandro Awada, Dolores Fonzi, among others.The drama was the Argentine entry in the...	Spanish	Fabián Bielinsky Fabián Bielinsky Fabián Bielinsky was an Argentine film director born in Buenos Aires.He started to make films early in his life, while still a high school student in the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, after graduation he started studying psychology, a career he shortly followed and dropped out in favor to...
	Caché Caché (film) Caché is a 2005 Austrian-French film written and directed by Michael Haneke. It stars Daniel Auteuil as Georges and Juliette Binoche as his wife Anne.-Plot:...	French	Michael Haneke Michael Haneke Michael Haneke is a German born Austrian filmmaker and writer best known for his bleak and disturbing style. His films often document problems and failures in modern society. Haneke has worked in television‚ theatre and cinema. He is also known for raising social issues in his work...	align="center"
	Shyamol Chhaya	Bangla	Humayun Ahmed Humayun Ahmed Humayun Ahmed is a Bangladeshi author, dramatist and director of film and television. He broke through since the publication of his first novel, Nandita Naraké...
	The Child	French	Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
	Say Good Morning To Dad	Spanish	Fernando Vargas Fernando Vargas Fernando Vargas is a retired Mexican American boxer and two-time world champion, who won a bronze medal as an amateur at the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata. His nicknames include "Ferocious", "The Aztec Warrior" and "El Feroz"...	align="center"
	Totally Personal	Serbo-Croatian	Nedžad Begović
	Two Sons of Francisco	Portuguese	Breno Silveira
	Stolen Eyes	Bulgarian, Turkish	Radoslav Spassov
	C.R.A.Z.Y. C.R.A.Z.Y. C.R.A.Z.Y. is a 2005 French-language Canadian film from Quebec. The film was directed and co-written by Jean-Marc Vallée. It tells the story of Zac, a young gay man dealing with homophobia and heterosexism while growing up with four brothers and a conservative father in 1960s and 1970s...	French	Jean-Marc Vallée Jean-Marc Vallée Jean-Marc Vallée is a Canadian film director and screenwriter from Quebec. He is best known for the film C.R.A.Z.Y. which is one of the most successful films in Quebec history, both financially and critically...
	Play	Spanish	Alicia Scherson
	The Promise The Promise (2005 film) The Promise is a 2005 Chinese epic fantasy film directed by Chen Kaige and starring Jang Dong-gun, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse. The film is based on the wuxia romance The K'un-lun Slave, written by P'ei Hsing at the time of the Tang Dynasty.First released in mainland China on...	Mandarin	Chen Kaige Chen Kaige Chen Kaige is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema. His films are known for their visual flair and epic storytelling.-Early life:...
	La Sombra del Caminante	Spanish	Ciro Guerra Ciro Guerra Ciro Guerra is a Colombian film director and screenwriter. His film Los viajes del viento competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.-Filmography:* La sombra del caminante...
	Caribe	Spanish	Esteban Ramírez
	A Wonderful Night in Split A Wonderful Night in Split A Wonderful Night in Split is a 2004 Croatian drama film directed by Arsen Anton Ostojić featuring an ensemble cast starring Nives Ivanković, Marinko Prga, Marija Škaričić, Dino Dvornik and Coolio.- Synopsis :...	Serbo-Croatian	Arsen Anton Ostojić Arsen Anton Ostojić Arsen Anton Ostojić is an acclaimed Croatian film director and screenwriter.Ostojić belongs to the young generation of Croatian directors who rose to prominence in the 2000s...
	Viva Cuba	Spanish	Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti is a Cuban Film Director. He started his career as an author and actor for children’s TV shows, made for the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television from 1981 to 1987...
	Something Like Happiness Something Like Happiness Something Like Happiness is a 2005 Czech movie directed by Bohdan Sláma. It is about finding hope in the midst of disappointment by three young people who grew up in the same run-down block of flats and are now coming of age. The film won the Golden Seashell at the San Sebastian Film...	Czech	Bohdan Sláma Bohdan Sláma Bohdan Sláma is a Czech film director. He studied at the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague .- Filmography :* 2008 – Venkovský učitel...
	Adam's Apples Adam's Apples Adam's Apples is a 2005 Danish comedy-drama film directed by Anders Thomas Jensen. The film revolves around the theme of the Book of Job. The main roles are played by Ulrich Thomsen and Mads Mikkelsen.- Plot :...	Danish	Anders Thomas Jensen Anders Thomas Jensen Anders Thomas Jensen is a Danish screenwriter and film director.Jensen won the Oscar for his 1998 film Election Night...
	Shop of Dreams	Estonian	Peeter Urbla
	The Land Has Eyes	Rotuman	Vilsoni Hereniko Vilsoni Hereniko Vilsoni Hereniko is a Fiji Islander playwright, film director and academic. He was the writer and director of Fiji's first ever feature film, The Land Has Eyes .-Biography:...
	Mother of Mine Äideistä parhain Mother of Mine is a 2005 Finnish-Swedish film directed by Klaus Härö. The film is based on a novel by Heikki Hietamies. It received good reviews from the Finnish press, and was selected to be Finland's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy...	Swedish, Finnish	Klaus Härö Klaus Härö Klaus Härö, born 31 March 1971 in Porvoo , Finland, Finland-Swedish film director. In 2004, Härö won Finland's State Prize for Art.-Films:*Letters to Father Jacob *The New Mankind *Mother of Mine...
	Joyeux Noel	French, German, English	Christian Carion Christian Carion Christian Carion is a French film director, dialogue writer and screenwriter.-As director and writer:*2009 : L'affaire Farewell*2005 : Joyeux Noël, starring Diane Kruger, Benno Fürmann and Guillaume Canet...	Nominee
	Tbilisi-Tbilisi	Georgian	Levan Zakareishvili
	Sophie Scholl - The Final Days	German	Marc Rothemund Marc Rothemund Marc Rothemund is a German film director. He is the son of the film director Sigi Rothemund and the brother of the actress Nina Rothemund. He began his career as an assistant for his father and then began to direct episodes for TV series. His first feature film was the 1998 production Das...	Nominee
	Brides Nyfes Nyfes is a 2004 Greek film directed by Pantelis Voulgaris. The film stars Victoria Haralabidou and Damian Lewis, and the photography is by Giorgos Arvanitis. Set in 1922, is the story of a mail order bride, one of 700, aboard the SS King Alexander, who falls in love with an American photographer...	English	Pantelis Voulgaris Pantelis Voulgaris Pantelis Voulgaris is a Greek film director and screenwriter. His 1989 film The Striker with Number 9 was entered into the 39th Berlin International Film Festival...	align="center"
	Perhaps Love	Mandarin, Cantonese	Peter Ho-Sun Chan
	Fateless Fateless (film) Fateless is a film directed by Lajos Koltai, released in 2005. It was based on the semi-autobiographical novel Fatelessness by the Nobel Prize-winner Imre Kertész, who wrote the screenplay. It is the story of a teenage boy who is sent to concentration camps at Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Zeitz.Its...	Hungarian, German	Lajos Koltai Lajos Koltai Lajos Koltai, ASC, HSC, is a Hungarian cinematographer and film director best known for his work with legendary Hungarian director Istvan Szabo, and Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore...
	Ahead of Time	Icelandic	Ágúst Guðmundsson Ágúst Guðmundsson Ágúst Guðmundsson is an Icelandic filmmaker.He studied French, Icelandic in Reykjavík and filmmaking at the National Film School in London...
	Paheli Paheli Paheli is a Bollywood ghost movie, released in India on 24 June 2005, directed by Amol Palekar and produced by Gauri Khan, Sanjiv Chawla and Shahrukh Khan, who also plays the male lead...	Hindi	Amol Palekar Amol Palekar Amol Palekar is an Indian actor of the 1970s and a director of Hindi and Marathi cinema.-Theater career:Palekar began in Marathi experimental theatre with Satyadev Dubey, and later started his own group, Aniket, in 1972 [citation needed]...
	Gie Gie Gie is a 2005 Indonesian film directed by Riri Riza. The film tells the story of Soe Hok Gie, a graduate from University of Indonesia who is known as an activist and nature lover. The film is based on a diary Catatan Seorang Demonstran written by Soe himself...	Indonesian	Riri Raza
	So Close, So Far So Close, So Far So close, So far is an Iranian drama film directed by Seyyed Reza Mir-Karimi.-Awards:The film won some major awards at the 24th Fajr Film Festival. The film was also selected as Iran's representative for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars....	Persian	Reza Mir Karimi
	Requiem of Snow	Kurdish	Jamil Rostami Jamil Rostami Jamil Rostami born 1971 in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, Iran) is an Iranian film director of Kurdish origin.In 2002 he made his first short film titled The Trouble of Being a Boy in Kurdish, which was screened in 24 domestic and international Festivals and was awarded several prizes.He made his...
	What a Wonderful Place	Hebrew, Russian, Tagalog, English	Eyal Halfon
	Don't Tell The Beast in the Heart The Beast in the Heart , is a 2005 film directed by Cristina Comencini, based on the novel written by herself.It was nominated for Golden Lion prize at the Venice International Film Festival...	Italian	Cristina Comencini	Nominee
	Blood and Bones Blood and Bones Blood and Bones is a Japanese film, directed by Yoichi Sai and starring Takeshi Kitano. It is based on the semi-autobiographical novel Chi to hone by Zainichi Korean author Yan Sogiru ....	Japanese, Korean	Yoichi Sai
	Welcome to Dongmakgol Welcome to Dongmakgol Welcome to Dongmakgol is a 2005 South Korean film set during the Korean War. It was South Korea's official entry for the foreign language film category of the Academy Awards in 2005, and as of 2005 it was the fourth-highest grossing South Korean film of all time...	Korean	Kwang-Hyun Park
	Renart the Fox	French	Thierry Schiel
	Al Otro Lado	Spanish, Arabic	Gustavo Loza
	The Cave of the Yellow Dog The Cave of the Yellow Dog The Cave of the Yellow Dog is a Mongolian/German film written and directed by Byambasuren Davaa. The film was submitted as Mongolia's contender for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...	Mongolian	Byambasuren Davaa Byambasuren Davaa Byambasuren Davaa, really Davaagiin Byambasüren , is a Mongolian film maker currently residing in Germany....
	Bluebird Bluebird (film) Bluebird is a 2004 Dutch television movie directed by Mijke de Jong. It was selected by the Netherlands as its official Foreign Language Film submission for the 78th Academy Awards, but was rejected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because it had aired on television....	Dutch	Mijke de Jong	align="center"
	Kissed by Winter	Norwegian	Sara Johnsen
	Paradise Now Paradise Now Paradise Now is a 2005 film directed by Hany Abu-Assad about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Israel. It won a Golden Globe for best foreign language film and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category....	Arabic, English	Hany Abu-Assad Hany Abu-Assad Hany Abu-Assad is a Dutch-Palestinian film director. His film Paradise Now, about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Israel, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006.-Early life:...	Nominee
	Días de Santiago	Spanish	Josué Méndez Josué Méndez (director) Josué Méndez is a Peruvian director of films including Dias de Santiago and Dioses . Dias de Santiago is about a cab driver in Lima, Peru...
	The Collector	Polish	Feliks Falk Feliks Falk Feliks Falk is a Polish movie and theater director as well as writer of film scripts, stage plays, television plays, and radio shows. A 1966 graduate of Warsaw's Academy of Fine Arts, he also is a painter and graphic artist...
	Noite Escura In the Darkness of the Night In the Darkness of the Night is a 2004 Portuguese drama film directed by João Canijo. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.- Cast :* Fernando Luís – Nelson Pinto* Rita Blanco – Celeste Pinto...	Portuguese, Russian	João Canijo João Canijo João Canijo is a Portuguese film director. His film Get a Life was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.-Filmography:* Três Menos Eu * Lovely Child/ Filha da Mãe João Canijo (born 1957) is a Portuguese film director. His film Get a Life was screened in the Un...
	Cayo Cayo (film) Cayo is a Puerto Rican film released in 2005. It was directed by Vicente Juarbe and written by Ineabelle Sánchez and Pedro Muñiz. The film also stars Roselyn Sanchez.-Plot synopsis:...	Spanish	Vicente Juarbe
	The Death of Mr. Lazarescu The Death of Mr. Lazarescu The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is a 2005 Romanian dark comedy film by director Cristi Puiu. In the film an old man is carried by an ambulance from hospital to hospital all night long, as doctors keep refusing to treat him and send him away....	Romanian	Cristi Puiu Cristi Puiu Cristi Puiu is a Romanian film director and screenwriter.Puiu's first interest in art was painting and in 1992, he was admitted as a student at the Painting Department of Ecole Superieure d'Arts Visuels in Geneva. After the first year he switched to film studies at the same school and graduated in...
	The Italian (2005 film) The Italian (2005 film) The Italian is a 2005 Russian drama film directed by Andrei Kravchuk. The screenplay by Andrei Romanov, inspired by a true story, focuses on a young boy's determined search for his mother.-Plot:...	Russian	Andrei Kravchuk Andrei Kravchuk Andrei Kravchuk is a Russian television and film director and screenwriter best known for his 2005 film The Italian.-Career:...
	Midwinter Night's Dream	Serbo-Croatian	Goran Paskaljević Goran Paskaljevic Goran Paskaljević is a Serbian film director. He was raised by his grandparents in Niš, following the divorce of his parents, and 14 years later returned to Belgrade where he worked in his stepfather's cinema....
	Be with Me Be with Me Be with Me is a 2005 Singaporean drama film directed by Eric Khoo. The film is inspired by the life of deaf-and-blind teacher Theresa Poh Lin Chan. It premiered as the Director's Fortnight selection in the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. It was also the official entry from Singapore for the 78th Academy...	English, Hokkien, Mandarin, Cantonese	Eric Khoo Eric Khoo Eric Khoo is a film director from Singapore. He was introduced to the world of cinema at a very early age. He was educated at United World College of South East Asia before attending City Art Institute in Sydney, Australia where he pursued cinematography...	align="center"
	The City of the Sun	Slovak, Czech	Martin Šulík Martin Šulík Martin Šulík is a Slovak film director. He studied film directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava from which he graduated in 1986...
	The Ruins	Slovene	Janez Burger Janez Burger Janez Burger, a Slovene director, screenwriter and producer.-Life and career:Born on 21 March 1965 in Kranj, Slovenia. He grew up in Železniki, now lives and works in Ljubljana . In 1986 started his studies on Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana, but in 1990 quit this studies and moved to study at...
	Tsotsi Tsotsi Tsotsi is a 2005 film written and directed by Gavin Hood. The film is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard. The soundtrack features Kwaito music performed by popular South African artist Zola as well as a score by Mark Kilian and Paul Hepker featuring the voice of South African...	Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English	Gavin Hood Gavin Hood Gavin Hood is a South African filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor, best known for writing and directing the Academy Award-winning Foreign Language Film Tsotsi...
	Obaba	Spanish	Montxo Armendáriz Montxo Armendáriz Montxo Armendariz, born Ramón Armendariz Barrios, in Olleta, Orbaibar, in Navarra , Spain 1949, is an awarded Spanish screenwriter and film director....
	Zozo Zozo Zozo is a 2005 Swedish-Lebanese film about a Lebanese boy during the civil war, who gets separated from his family and ends up in Sweden. It was directed by Swedish-Lebanese director Josef Fares. The story is mostly inspired by Fares' real life immigration to Sweden during the war.The film was...	Swedish, Arabic	Josef Fares Josef Fares Josef Fares is a Crystal-Simorgh winning Swedish film director with Assyrian/Syriac origin. His brother is the actor Fares Fares, who has appeared in many of his films....
	Tout un Hiver sans Feu	French, Albanian	Greg Zglinski
	The Wayward Cloud The Wayward Cloud The Wayward Cloud is a 2005 film directed by Tsai Ming-liang. The cast includes Lee Kang-sheng and Chen Shiang-chyi. The film was Taiwan's official entry for the 78th Academy Awards in the foreign-language category...	Mandarin	Tsai Ming-liang Tsai Ming-liang Tsai Ming-liang is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of Taiwanese Cinema, along with earlier contemporaries such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang...
	Sex & Philosophy	Tajik	Mohsen Makhmalbaf Mohsen Makhmalbaf Mohsen Makhmalbaf is an Iranian film director, writer, editor, and producer. During 2007 he was the president of Asian Film Academy.Makhmalbaf's films have been widely presented in international film festivals in the past ten years. The multi-award-winning director, belongs to the new wave...	align="center"
	The Tin Mine The Tin Mine The Tin Mine is a 2005 Thai biographical drama film directed by Jira Maligool. It is adapted from short stories by Ajin Panjapan and his semi-autobiographical account of growing up in a mining camp in southern Thailand during the post-World War II years...	Thai	Jira Maligool Jira Maligool Jira Maligool is a Thai film director, screenwriter and producer. He's directed two films, Mekhong Full Moon Party and The Tin Mine, and was the screenwriter behind the international hit, The Iron Ladies....
	Lovelorn	Turkish	Yavuz Turgul Yavuz Turgul Yavuz Turgul is a Turkish film director and screenwriter, who is best known for his box-office hit The Bandit and who has won the Golden Orange for Best Screenplay four times for Abbas in Flower , The Agha , Mr. Muhsin and The Shadow Play ; Golden Oranges for Best Film for Mr...
	The Buffalo Boy The Buffalo Boy The Buffalo Boy is a 2004 film directed by Minh Nguyen-Vo. The movie was the official entry from Vietnam for Best Foreign Language Film category at the 78th Academy Awards...	Vietnamese	Nguyen Vo Nghiem Minh

Failed submissions

In addition to the above, Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 selected 1888: The Extraordinary Voyage of the Santa Isabel, but their entry was delayed by a lawsuit and they missed the deadline Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

 reportedly selected Álvaro Buela's Alma Mater, but it only ended up sent to the Goya Awards

Goya Awards

The Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....

. Both films were chosen by their respective national film boards, and should be considered as their countries' national Foreign Film submissions.

Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

 elected to send Basain

Basain

Basain is a 2005 Nepali film directed by Subash Gajurel. It was Nepal's submission to the 79th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.-See also:*Cinema of Nepal...

, but due to its release date, it was submitted the following year instead.

The Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

failed to send a film for the first time in ten years; their Film Academy claimed they thought they hadn't been invited after the official invitation failed to reach their new address. Among the other countries which were officially invited to submit a film, but did not, were Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malaysia, Ukraine and the UK.