List of Sub-Saharan African submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

The following is a list of the films submitted by the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards. The list excludes submissions by South Africa, which can be seen here.

In 1976, Côte d'Ivoire became the first country in the region to submit a film. Although the film was a majority French production, it was allowed to represent the Ivory Coast, and went on to win the 1977 Oscar.^[1]

Burkina Faso and Cameroon each submitted one film in the 1980s, Democratic Republic of the Congo sent one in the 1990s, Chad and Tanzania submitted in the 2000s, and Ethiopia and Kenya submitted in the 2010s. Mauritania submitted their first film in 2014 with Timbuktu. The film made the final nominations list.

Submissions

Year (Ceremony)	Country	Film title used in nomination	Original title	Language	Director	Result
1976 (49th)	Ivory Coast	Black and White in Color	Noirs et Blancs en couleur	French	Annaud, Jean-JacquesJean-Jacques Annaud	Won Academy Award
1980 (53rd)	Cameroon	Our Daughter	Notre fille	French	Kamwa, DanielDaniel Kamwa	Not Nominated
1989 (62nd)	Burkina Faso	Yaaba	Yaaba	Moré	Ouedraogo, IdrissaIdrissa Ouedraogo	Not Nominated
1997 (70th)	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Macadam Tribu	Macadam Tribu	French	Laplaine, ZekaZeka Laplaine	Not Nominated
2001 (74th)	Tanzania	Maangamizi: The Ancient One	Maangamizi: The Ancient One	Swahili, English	Mhando, MartinMartin Mhando and Mulvihill, RonRon Mulvihill	Not Nominated
2002 (75th)	Chad	Abouna	Abouna	Chadian Arabic, French	Haroun, Mahamat-SalehMahamat-Saleh Haroun	Not Nominated
2010 (83rd)	Ethiopia	The Athlete[2]	እትሌቱ (Atletu)	Amharic	Frankel, DaveyDavey Frankel and Lakew, RasselasRasselas Lakew	Not Nominated
2012 (85th)	Kenya	Nairobi Half Life[3]	Nairobi Half Life	Swahili	Gitonga, David 'Tosh'David 'Tosh' Gitonga	Not Nominated
2013 (86th)	Chad	GriGris[4]	GriGris	French, Arabic	Haroun, Mahamat-SalehMahamat-Saleh Haroun	Not Nominated
2014 (87th)	Ethiopia	Difret[5]	Difret	Amharic	Mehari, Zeresenay BerhaneZeresenay Berhane Mehari	Not Nominated
	Mauritania	Timbuktu[6]	Timbuktu	Bambara, Songhay, French	Sissako, AbderrahmaneAbderrahmane Sissako	Nominated[7]
2015 (88th)	Ivory Coast	Run[8]	Run	French	Lacôte, PhilippePhilippe Lacôte	Not Nominated
	Ethiopia	Lamb[9]	Lamb	Amharic	Zeleke, YaredYared Zeleke	Not Nominated

References

1. "The 49th Academy Awards (1977) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
2. "9 Foreign Language Films Continue to Oscar Race". oscars.org. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
3. Vourlias, Christopher (26 September 2012). "Kenya chooses 'Life' for Oscar contest". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved 27 September 2012.
4. "Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's 'Grigris' Is Chad's Entry For Best Foreign Language Film Oscar". Indie Wire. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
5. "‘Difret’ Submitted for Oscar Consideration for Best Foreign Language Film". Tadias. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
6. "Abderrahmane Sissako's 'Timbuktu' Is Mauritania's Best Foreign Language 2015 Oscar Competition Entry". Indiewire. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
7. "Oscar Nominations 2015: See The Full List". Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
8. Essien, Iquo B. (9 October 2015). "Philippe Lacôte’s Debut Feature 'Run' Is Ivory Coast's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar Entry". IndieWire. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
9. "Director Yared Zeleke’s Film ‘Lamb’ is Ethiopia’s Official Submission to Oscars". Tadias Magazine. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.