1997 Best Foreign Language Film submissions Oscar winner Character Total submissions 44 First-time submissions 3
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.[ 1] 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.[ 2] 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.[ 2]
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.[ 3] The highlighted titles were the five nominated films, which came from Brazil, Germany, Russia and Spain, and the eventual winner, Character , from the Netherlands.[ 4] 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.
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
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
French
Zeka Laplaine
Not nominated
Denmark
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
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
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
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
Slovak
Martin Šulík
Not nominated
Slovenia
Outsider
Avtsajder
Slovene
Andrej Košak
Not nominated
South Africa
Paljas
Afrikaans
Katinka Heyns
Not nominated
Spain
Secrets of the Heart
Secretos del corazón
Spanish
Montxo Armendáriz
Nominated
Sweden
Tic Tac
Swedish
Daniel Alfredson
Not nominated
Switzerland
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