List of foreign-language films nominated for Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are among the world's oldest and most prestigious film prizes.

[2] Even though a separate prize has existed for foreign language films since the 1956 Academy Awards, such films continue to be eligible for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided that they have been commercially released in Los Angeles County, California and that they comply with the special rules governing those categories.

[3] The French comedy À Nous la Liberté (1931) was the first foreign language film to be nominated for an Academy Award (Best Art Direction); the German-language Swiss drama Marie-Louise (1944) was the first to actually win one (Best Original Screenplay).

In the past, this had enabled some foreign language films to receive nominations over multiple years, the most recent case being that of the Italian comedy-drama Amarcord (1973).

A foreign film is a motion picture produced outside the United States, regardless of the language used in its dialogue track.

A foreign language film, on the other hand, is a predominantly non-English speaking motion picture, regardless of where it was produced.

On the other hand, foreign films where the majority of the dialogue is in English — such as the Indo-British co-production of Gandhi (1982) — are not taken into account.

The article also includes films such as the Japanese anime Spirited Away (2001) that were initially released in their native country in a foreign language but were nominated by the Academy for the English-dubbed version under which they were shown in Los Angeles.

The winning films are in bold and in light blue background; the presence of an Oscar statuette indicates the official recipient of the award.

When Grand Illusion (1937) was nominated, the name of the category was Outstanding Production; the Best Picture designation has been continuously used since the 1962 Academy Awards.

However, the person(s) to whom it is given must always be "the key creative individual most clearly responsible for the overall achievement or a two-person team with shared and equal directing credit".

[12] The Production Design category, formerly named Best Art Direction until 2012, has existed since the creation of the Academy Awards.