Cuba has submitted films for consideration in the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1978. The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.
As of 2026, Cuba was nominated only once for Strawberry and Chocolate (1993).
Submissions Every year, each country is invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to submit its best film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. The International Feature Film Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award.
The Cuban nominee is selected annually by the Cuban Film Institute, the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC).http://www.cubanow.net/pages/loader.php?sec=8&t=2&item=3211
Cuba's first submission was directed by Miguel Littin, a leftist Chilean filmmaker who was nominated in this category twice, representing Mexico in 1975/76 (for Letters from Marusia) and Nicaragua in 1982/83 (for Alsino and the Condor). He later represented his native Chile in 2009.
The country only nomination was the a gay-themed comedy Strawberry and Chocolate (1993), directed by the Cuban acclaimed filmmaker Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and co-directed by Juan Carlos Tabío.
Most of the films submitted are in Spanish. The following is a list of the films submitted by Cuba in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards.
Year(Ceremony) English title Original title Language(s) Director Result 1978(51st) Viva el Presidente El recurso del métodoSpanish 1987(60th) A Successful Man Un hombre de éxito 1988(61st) Letters from the Park Cartas del parque 1989(62nd) Supporting Roles Papeles secundarios Orlando Rojas 1990(63rd) The Beauty of the Alhambra La bella del Alhambra 1991(64th) Hello Hemingway 1992(65th) Adorable Lies Adorables mentiras 1994(67th) Strawberry and Chocolate Fresa y chocolate Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío 1996(69th) Think of Me Pon tu pensamiento en mí Arturo Sotto Díaz 1997(70th) Vertical Love Amor vertical 2002(75th) Nothing More Nada 2003(76th) Suite Habana No dialogue 2005:(78th) Viva Cuba Spanish 2006(79th) El Benny 2007(80th) The Silly Age La edad de la peseta 2009(82nd) Fallen Gods Los dioses rotosSpanish, Yoruba 2011(84th) HabanastationSpanish Ian Padrón 2014(87th) Behavior Conducta 2016(89th) The Companion El acompañante 2018(91st) Sergio and Sergei Sergio & SergeiSpanish, English, Russian 2019(92nd) A Translator Un traductor Spanish, Russian Rodrigo Barriuso and Sebastián Barriuso 2020(93rd) Buscando a Casal Spanish Jorge Luis Sánchez 2023(96th) Nelsito's World El mundo de Nelsito Fernando Pérez 2026(99th) Malecón Carlos Larrazabal
Notes
References
External links
The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page