Foreign Language Film Submissions from Mexico to the Academy Awards to Compete for an Oscar Nomination or Win in the Best International Feature Film Category
by CineasticusBorealis | created - 30 Sep 2014 | updated - 21 Oct 2021 | PublicA detailed text on Mexican submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film will follow as soon as I have some more time to create it. Please be patient!
..............................................................................................
This list is chronologically sorted in reverse by years of participation!
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Prayers for the Stolen (2021)
R | 110 min | Drama
Life in a town at war seen through the eyes of three young girls on the path to adolescence.
Director: Tatiana Huezo | Stars: Guillermo Villegas, Mayra Batalla, Teresa Sánchez, Eileen Yañez
Votes: 4,052
94th ACADEMY AWARDS (2021) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
2. I'm No Longer Here (2019)
TV-MA | 112 min | Drama
In Monterrey, Mexico, a young street gang spends their days dancing to slowed-down cumbia and attending parties. After a mix-up with a local cartel, their leader is forced to migrate to the U.S. but quickly longs to return home.
Director: Fernando Frias | Stars: Juan Daniel García Treviño, Emily May Jampel, Xueming Angelina Chen, Leonardo Ávila
Votes: 9,417
93rd ACADEMY AWARDS (2020/21) ▒▒▒▒ Status: shortlisted
......................................................................................................................
3. The Chambermaid (2018)
TV-MA | 102 min | Drama
A look at the working environment of a chambermaid in one of Mexico City's most luxurious hotels.
Director: Lila Avilés | Stars: Gabriela Cartol, Agustina Quinci, Teresa Sánchez, Alán Uribe
Votes: 2,080 | Gross: $0.08M
92nd ACADEMY AWARDS (2019) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
4. Roma (2018)
R | 135 min | Drama
A year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta
Votes: 169,852
91st ACADEMY AWARDS (2018) ████ Status: won
......................................................................................................................
5. Tempestad (2016)
105 min | Documentary
The emotional journeys of two women victimized by corruption and injustice in Mexico and of the love, dignity and resistance that allowed them to survive.
Director: Tatiana Huezo
Votes: 888
90th ACADEMY AWARDS (2017) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
6. Desierto (2015)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A group of people trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States encounter a racist man who has taken border patrol duties into his own hands.
Director: Jonás Cuarón | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Alondra Hidalgo, Diego Cataño
Votes: 10,760 | Gross: $1.83M
89th ACADEMY AWARDS (2016) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
7. 600 Miles (2015)
R | 85 min | Drama, Thriller
Arnulfo Rubio smuggles weapons for a deadly Mexican cartel. ATF agent Hank Harris attempts to apprehend him, but gets kidnapped by Rubio, instead. Rubio takes him to his bosses, but during the 600-mile-long drive, they slowly befriend.
Director: Gabriel Ripstein | Stars: Tim Roth, Kristyan Ferrer, Mónica Del Carmen, Noé Hernández
Votes: 2,489
88th ACADEMY AWARDS (2015) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
8. Cantinflas (2014)
PG | 102 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
The untold story of Mexico's greatest and most beloved comedy film star of all time, from his humble origins on the small stage to the bright lights of Hollywood.
Director: Sebastian del Amo | Stars: Óscar Jaenada, Michael Imperioli, Ilse Salas, Bárbara Mori
Votes: 4,186 | Gross: $6.37M
87th ACADEMY AWARDS (2014) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
9. Heli (2013)
Not Rated | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Heli must try and protect his young family when his 12-year-old sister inadvertently involves them in the brutal drug world. He must battle against the drug cartel that have been angered as well as the corrupt police force.
Director: Amat Escalante | Stars: Armando Espitia, Andrea Vergara, Linda González, Juan Eduardo Palacios
Votes: 5,388
86th ACADEMY AWARDS (2013) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
10. After Lucia (2012)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama
Alejandra and her dad Roberto have just moved to town. She is new at school, he has a new job. Starting over is sometimes complicated when you have left so much behind.
Director: Michel Franco | Stars: Tessa Ia, Hernán Mendoza, Gonzalo Vega Jr., Tamara Yazbek
Votes: 7,003
85th ACADEMY AWARDS (2012) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
11. Miss Bala (2011)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After entering a beauty contest in Tijuana, a young woman witnesses drug-related murders and is forced to do the gang's bidding.
Director: Gerardo Naranjo | Stars: Stephanie Sigman, Noé Hernández, Irene Azuela, J.R. Yenque
Votes: 9,436
84th ACADEMY AWARDS (2011) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
12. Biutiful (2010)
R | 148 min | Drama, Romance
A man dying of cancer tries his best to leave the world on his own terms.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella
Votes: 94,635 | Gross: $5.10M
83rd ACADEMY AWARDS (2010) ▓▓▓▓ Status: nominated
......................................................................................................................
13. El Traspatio (2009)
122 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The true story of the border town of Juarez, Mexico where since the mid-1990s thousands of women have gone missing or turned up as sun-burnt corpses in the desert. Can new police captain Blanca Bravo stop the savagery?
Director: Carlos Carrera | Stars: Ana de la Reguera, Asur Zagada, Marco Pérez, Ivan Cortes
Votes: 1,598
82nd ACADEMY AWARDS (2009) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
14. Tear This Heart Out (2008)
R | 107 min | Drama
Set in 1930's in Puebla, Mexico, a young woman finds herself in an arranged marriage to a prominent politician (Andres Ascencio). As his career progresses, she finds it more difficult to remain a loyal, loving wife.
Director: Roberto Sneider | Stars: Ana Claudia Talancón, Daniel Giménez Cacho, José María de Tavira, Joaquín Cosio
Votes: 2,535
81st ACADEMY AWARDS (2008) ▒▒▒▒ Status: shortlisted
......................................................................................................................
15. Silent Light (2007)
Not Rated | 136 min | Drama, Romance
In a Mennonite community in Mexico, a father's faith is tested when he falls in love with a new woman.
Director: Carlos Reygadas | Stars: Cornelio Wall, Miriam Toews, Maria Pankratz, Peter Wall
Votes: 6,840 | Gross: $0.05M
80th ACADEMY AWARDS (2007) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
16. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
R | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy, War
In the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú
Votes: 703,261 | Gross: $37.63M
79th ACADEMY AWARDS (2006) ▓▓▓▓ Status: nominated
......................................................................................................................
17. To the Other Side (2004)
90 min | Drama
Three separate stories of children from different places seeking to find their missing fathers.
Director: Gustavo Loza | Stars: Carmen Maura, Héctor Suárez, Vanessa Bauche, Susana González
Votes: 404
78th ACADEMY AWARDS (2005) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
18. Innocent Voices (2004)
R | 120 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A young boy, in an effort to have a normal childhood in 1980's El Salvador, is caught up in a dramatic fight for his life as he desperately tries to avoid the war which is raging all around him.
Director: Luis Mandoki | Stars: Carlos Padilla, Leonor Varela, Xuna Primus, Gustavo Muñoz
Votes: 8,195 | Gross: $0.84M
77th ACADEMY AWARDS (2004) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
19. Aro Tolbukhin - En la mente del asesino (2002)
95 min | Drama
Aro Tolbukhin is a hungarian inmigrant that sets fire to seven people in an infirmary in a Mission in Guatemala, the movie traces back to see what made him do it, from his arrival in Guatemala to his childhood in Hungary.
Directors: Isaac-Pierre Racine, Agustí Villaronga, Lydia Zimmermann | Stars: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Carmen Beato, Zóltán Józan, Mariona Castillo
Votes: 491
76th ACADEMY AWARDS (2003) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
20. The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002)
R | 118 min | Drama, Romance
Politics and sexual passions threaten to corrupt a young, newly-ordained priest in a small Mexican town.
Director: Carlos Carrera | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancón, Sancho Gracia, Angélica Aragón
Votes: 14,429 | Gross: $5.71M
75th ACADEMY AWARDS (2002) ▓▓▓▓ Status: nominated
......................................................................................................................
21. Violet Perfume: Nobody Hears You (2001)
PG-13 | 90 min | Drama
The history of friendship of two females teenagers and how it's cracked up by misinformation about sexual education and violence against women.
Director: Marisa Sistach | Stars: Ximena Ayala, Nancy Gutiérrez, Arcelia Ramírez, María Rojo
Votes: 1,659
74th ACADEMY AWARDS (2001) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
22. Amores Perros (2000)
R | 154 min | Drama, Thriller
An amateur dog fighter, a supermodel, and a derelict assassin, all separately struggling to find love, find their lives transformed by a devastating car wreck in Mexico City.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero
Votes: 252,991 | Gross: $5.38M
73rd ACADEMY AWARDS (2000) ▓▓▓▓ Status: nominated
......................................................................................................................
23. El coronel no tiene quien le escriba (1999)
Not Rated | 122 min | Drama
Every Friday, the Colonel puts on his only suit and goes to the dock to await a letter announcing the arrival of his pension. But the townsfolk all know that this pension will never come. ... See full summary »
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Fernando Luján, Marisa Paredes, Salma Hayek, Rafael Inclán
Votes: 1,232
72nd ACADEMY AWARDS (1999) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
24. Un embrujo (1998)
130 min | Drama, Romance
In 1930s Mexico, a young boy falls in love with his elementary-school teacher.
Director: Carlos Carrera | Stars: Blanca Guerra, Mario Zaragoza, Daniel Acuña, Luis Fernando Peña
Votes: 283
71st ACADEMY AWARDS (1998) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
25. Deep Crimson (1996)
114 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
The life of a man who preys on unsuspecting women for a living is changed when he finds an accomplice in the woman who loves and controls him.
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Regina Orozco, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Sherlyn, Giovani Florido
Votes: 2,082
70th ACADEMY AWARDS (1997) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
26. Entre Pancho Villa y una mujer desnuda (1996)
87 min | Comedy, Fantasy, History
Gina (Diana Bracho) is a modern business woman in her late forties, she has a lover named Adrian, who she sees once in a while just to have sex; they are both atracted to the historic ... See full summary »
Directors: Sabina Berman, Isabelle Tardán | Stars: Diana Bracho, Arturo Ríos, Jesús Ochoa, Arminius Arzate
Votes: 154
69th ACADEMY AWARDS (1996) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
27. Midaq Alley (1995)
Unrated | 140 min | Drama, Romance
The lives of men and women living on Callejón de los Milagros in Mexico City.
Director: Jorge Fons | Stars: Ernesto Gómez Cruz, María Rojo, Salma Hayek, Bruno Bichir
Votes: 3,363
68th ACADEMY AWARDS (1995) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
28. The Beginning and the End (1993)
188 min | Drama
The film tells the story of the Boteros, a middle-class Mexican family struggling against poverty after their father's death. Ignacia (Egurrola) is the Boteros mother, a desperate woman who... See full summary »
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Ernesto Laguardia, Julieta Egurrola, Blanca Guerra, Verónica Merchant
Votes: 464
67th ACADEMY AWARDS (1994) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
29. Cronos (1992)
R | 94 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A mysterious device designed to provide its owner with eternal life resurfaces after four hundred years, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook, Margarita Isabel
Votes: 33,139 | Gross: $0.62M
66th ACADEMY AWARDS (1993) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
30. Like Water for Chocolate (1992)
R | 105 min | Drama, Romance
When tradition prevents her from marrying the man she loves, a young woman discovers she has a unique talent for cooking.
Director: Alfonso Arau | Stars: Marco Leonardi, Lumi Cavazos, Regina Torné, Mario Iván Martínez
Votes: 18,848 | Gross: $21.67M
65th ACADEMY AWARDS (1992) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
31. Homework (1991)
Unrated | 85 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A middle agend woman asks an old boyfriend to her home. He thinks its only for casual sex, she is planning something else and she is taping in on video.
Director: Jaime Humberto Hermosillo | Stars: María Rojo, José Alonso
Votes: 828
64th ACADEMY AWARDS (1991) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
32. Cabeza de Vaca (1991)
R | 111 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A handful of survivors from a disastrous 1528 Spanish expedition to Florida journey across the coast until they reach Mexico.
Director: Nicolás Echevarría | Stars: Juan Diego, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Roberto Sosa, Carlos Castañón
Votes: 1,201 | Gross: $0.79M
63rd ACADEMY AWARDS (1990) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
33. El último túnel (1987)
110 min | Adventure, Drama
Director: Servando González | Stars: David Reynoso, Gerardo Zepeda, Enrique Lucero, Ignacio Guadalupe
Votes: 18
61st ACADEMY AWARDS (1988) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
34. Lo que importa es vivir (1987)
113 min | Drama, Romance
Candelario is a wanderer who arrives to Don Lázaro's hacienda. He soon proves to be a good worker full of ideas and gives new life to the decadent hacienda. He also attract the attention of Don Lázaro's wife Chabela.
Director: Luis Alcoriza | Stars: Gonzalo Vega, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, María Rojo, Loló Navarro
Votes: 102
60th ACADEMY AWARDS (1987) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
35. The Realm of Fortune (1986)
130 min | Drama
Poor Dionisio finds himself as recipient of the good fortune, but soon he forgets that everything that goes up also has to go down, and that in the depressing nothingness of his town it is easy to die.
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Blanca Guerra, Alejandro Parodi, Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez
Votes: 512
59th ACADEMY AWARDS (1986) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
36. Frida (1983)
108 min | Biography, Drama
The most prominent female painter of Latin America, Frida Kahlo, is agonizing in her Coyoacán home. She evokes memories of her childhood, of the streetcar accident that caused her terrible ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Leduc | Stars: Ofelia Medina, Juan José Gurrola, Max Kerlow, Claudio Brook
Votes: 535
58th ACADEMY AWARDS (1985) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
37. Erendira (1983)
103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
While Erendira, a beautiful teenage girl, has a surreal mystical vision, her grandmother's house catches on fire and burns to the ground. Her grandmother holds Erendira responsible and, in ... See full summary »
Director: Ruy Guerra | Stars: Irene Papas, Claudia Ohana, Michael Lonsdale, Oliver Wehe
Votes: 680
56th ACADEMY AWARDS (1983) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
38. Mojado Power (1981)
108 min | Comedy
Director: Alfonso Arau | Stars: Alfonso Arau, Blanca Guerra, Pedro Damián, Priscilla Garcia
Votes: 68
54th ACADEMY AWARDS (1981) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
39. The Place Without Limits (1978)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
Family honor, greed, machismo, homophobia, and the dreams of whores collide in a Mexican town. Rich, elderly Don Alejo is poised to sell the town for a profit, needing only to buy a ... See full summary »
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Roberto Cobo, Fernando Soler, Lucha Villa, Ana Martín
Votes: 1,647
51st ACADEMY AWARDS (1978) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
40. Pafnucio Santo (1977)
100 min | Drama, History
The controversial, sexy, surreal story of a messenger and his journey and encounters with many historical events and people like Auschwitz, the Ku Klux Klan, Frida Kahlo, Cortés and Emiliano Zapata (as a beautiful woman!).
Director: Rafael Corkidi | Stars: Pablo Corkidi, María de la Luz Zendejas, Jorge Humberto Robles, Gina Morett
Votes: 99
50th ACADEMY AWARDS (1977) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
41. Longitud de guerra (1976)
142 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
In 1886 the residents of a town in Chihuahua reject the abuses of the authorities and the army.
Director: Gonzalo Martínez Ortega | Stars: Bruno Rey, Narciso Busquets, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Aarón Hernán
Votes: 53
49th ACADEMY AWARDS (1976) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
42. Letters from Marusia (1975)
110 min | Drama, History
It is 1925 and working conditions in Chile are abysmal. The miners of Marusia go on strike, but the mine owners and the Government use the Chilean Army crush them.
Director: Miguel Littin | Stars: Gian Maria Volontè, Diana Bracho, Claudio Obregón, Eduardo López Rojas
Votes: 365
48th ACADEMY AWARDS (1975) ▓▓▓▓ Status: nominated
......................................................................................................................
43. Inspector Calzonzin (1974)
90 min | Comedy
A humble peasant is mistaken by a federal government inspector in a small town.
Director: Alfonso Arau | Stars: Alfonso Arau, Pancho Córdova, Virma González, Héctor Ortega
Votes: 207
47th ACADEMY AWARDS (1974) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
44. Reed: Insurgent Mexico (1972)
124 min | Biography, Drama, War
A dramatization of John Reed's newspaper accounts of the Mexican Revolution. Considered the first real film in Mexican cinema to be made on the Mexican Revolution.
Director: Paul Leduc | Stars: Claudio Obregón, Eduardo López Rojas, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Juan Ángel Martínez
Votes: 206
46th ACADEMY AWARDS (1973) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
45. El Topo (1970)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama, Western
A mysterious black-clad gunfighter wanders a mystical Western landscape encountering multiple bizarre characters.
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky | Stars: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brontis Jodorowsky, José Legarreta, Alfonso Arau
Votes: 31,407 | Gross: $0.04M
44th ACADEMY AWARDS (1971) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
46. Los adolescentes (1967)
100 min | Drama, Romance
Director: Abel Salazar | Stars: Luis Aragón, Sandra Boyd, Ismael Camacho, Elizabeth Dupeyrón
40th ACADEMY AWARDS (1967) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
47. Viento negro (1965)
127 min | Adventure, Drama
A man recently estranged from his wife is in charge of setting a new rail line across the desert in difficult conditions. Things are further complicated when his 'sheltered' son arrives wanting to reconnect.
Director: Servando González | Stars: José Elías Moreno, David Reynoso, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, Fernando Luján
Votes: 311
39th ACADEMY AWARDS (1966) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
48. Tarahumara (Cada vez más lejos) (1965)
105 min | Drama
A worker of the Mexican Indigenist Institute tries to help the Tarahumara Indians to protect and keep their lands, but he must face corrupt landowners and politicians.
Director: Luis Alcoriza | Stars: Ignacio López Tarso, Jaime Fernández, Aurora Clavel, Eric del Castillo
Votes: 117
38th ACADEMY AWARDS (1965) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
49. The Paper Man (1963)
110 min | Drama
A dumb homeless finds a 10,000 pesos bill, with it he pretends to buy a child of his own, unfortunately everybody around him try to steal it, tragedy will come soon.
Director: Ismael Rodríguez | Stars: Ignacio López Tarso, Alida Valli, Susana Cabrera, Guillermo Orea
Votes: 320
36th ACADEMY AWARDS (1963) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
50. Tlayucan (1962)
105 min | Comedy, Drama
A man becomes a thief out of desperation. If his identity becomes known, his neighbors might lynch him. The only friendly face in town is the local priest.
Director: Luis Alcoriza | Stars: Julio Aldama, Norma Angélica, Andrés Soler, Anita Blanch
Votes: 226
35th ACADEMY AWARDS (1962) ▓▓▓▓ Status: nominated
......................................................................................................................
51. The Important Man (1961)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
Animas Trujano is a colorful but irresponsible Indian in a small Mexican village. He hopes above all things someday to be chosen mayordomio of his village, a place of great honor usually ... See full summary »
Director: Ismael Rodríguez | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Columba Domínguez, Flor Silvestre, Pepe Romay
Votes: 734
34th ACADEMY AWARDS (1961) ▓▓▓▓ Status: nominated
......................................................................................................................
52. Macario (1960)
91 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Poor and hungry peasant Macario wishes to have a good meal for All Saint's Day. After his wife cooks him a turkey he has three apparitions: The Devil, God, and the Death.
Director: Roberto Gavaldón | Stars: Ignacio López Tarso, Pina Pellicer, Enrique Lucero, Mario Alberto Rodríguez
Votes: 4,341
33rd ACADEMY AWARDS (1960) ▓▓▓▓ Status: nominated
......................................................................................................................
53. Nazarin (1959)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama
A priest in a poor community lives a charitable life in accordance with his religious principles, but many others do not return the favor.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Francisco Rabal, Marga López, Rita Macedo, Ignacio López Tarso
Votes: 6,456
32nd ACADEMY AWARDS (1959) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
54. Torero (1956)
75 min | Documentary, Drama
The life of the famed Mexican bullfighter Luis Procuna, from his boyhood through his training and the triumphs that followed as Procuna rose to the peak of his profession.
Director: Carlos Velo | Stars: Luis Procuna, Consuelo Procuna, Ángel Procuna, Antonio Sevilia
Votes: 127
30th ACADEMY AWARDS (1957) ░░░░ Status: submitted
......................................................................................................................
Tell Your Friends