Entre los candidatos más destacados figuran "Los miserables", por Francia; "Parasite", por Corea del Sur; y "Dolor y gloria", por España.
La relación completa es la siguiente:
- Albania: The Delegation. Bujar Alimani, director
- Alemania: System Crasher. Nora Fingscheidt, director
- Arabia Saudí: The Perfect Candidate. Haifaa Al Mansour, directora
- Argelia: Papicha. Mounia Meddour, directora
- Argentina: La odisea de los giles. Sebastián Borensztein, director
- Armenia: Lengthy Night. Edgar Baghdasaryan, director
- Australia: Buoyancy. Rodd Rathjen, director
- Austria: Joy. Sudabeh Mortezai, directora
- Bangladés: Alpha. Nasiruddin Yousuff, director
- Bielorrusia: Debut. Anastasiya Miroshnichenko, directora
- Bélgica: Our Mothers. César Díaz, director
- Bolivia: Tu me manques. Rodrigo Bellott, director
- Bosnia-Herzegovina: The Son. Ines Tanovic, directora
- Brasil: A Vida Invisível. Karim Aïnouz, director
- Bulgaria: Ága. Milko Lazarov, director
- Camboya: In the Life of Music. Caylee So, Sok Visal, directores
- Canadá: Antigone. Sophie Deraspe, directora
- Chile: Araña. Andrés Wood, director
- China: Ne Zha. Yu Yang, director
- Colombia: Monos. Alejandro Landes, director
- Corea del Sur: Parasite. Bong Joon Ho, director
- Costa Rica: El despertar de las hormigas. Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, directora
- Croacia: Mali. Antonio Nuic, directores
- Cuba: Un traductor. Rodrigo Barriuso, Sebastián Barriuso, directores
- Dinamarca: Queen of Heart. May el-Toukhy, directora
- República Dominicana: El proyeccionista. José María Cabral, director
- Ecuador: La mala noche. Gabriela Calvache, directora
- Egipto: Poisonous Roses. Ahmed Fawzi Saleh, director
- Eslovaquia: Let There Be Light. Marko Skop, director
- Eslovenia: History of Love. Sonja Prosenc, directora
- España: Dolor y gloria. Pedro Almodóvar, director
- Estonia: Truth and Justice. Tanel Toom, director
- Etiopía: Running against the Wind. Jan Philipp Weyl, director
- Filipinas: Verdict. Raymund Ribay Gutierrez, director
- Finlandia: Stupid Young Heart. Selma Vilhunen, directora
- Francia: Les Misérables. Ladj Ly, director
- Georgia: Shindisi. Dimitri Tsintsadze, directora
- Ghana: Azali. Kwabena Gyansah, director
- Grecia: When Tomatoes Met Wagner. Marianna Economou, directora
- Holanda: Instinct. Halina Reijn, directora
- Honduras: Café con sabor a mi tierra. Carlos Membreño, director
- Hong Kong: The White Storm 2 Drug Lords. Herman Yau, director
- Hungría: Those Who Remained. Barnabás Tóth, director
- Islandia: A White, White Day. Hlynur Pálmason, director
- India: Gully Boy. Zoya Akhtar, directora
- Indonesia: Memories of My Body. Garin Nugroho, director
- Irán: Finding Farideh. Azadeh Moussavi, Kourosh Ataee, directores
- Irlanda: Gaza. Garry Keane, Andrew McConnell, directores
- Israel: Incitement. Yaron Zilberman, director
- Italia: The Traitor. Marco Bellocchio, director
- Japón: Weathering with You. Makoto Shinkai, director
- Kazajistán: Kazakh Khanate. The Golden Throne. Rustem Abdrashov, director
- Kenia: Subira. Ravneet Singh (Sippy) Chadha, directora
- Kosovo: Zana. Antoneta Kastrati, directora
- Kirguizistán: Aurora. Bekzat Pirmatov, director
- Letonia: The Mover. Davis Simanis, director
- Líbano: 1982. Oualid Mouaness, director
- Lituania: Bridges of Time. Audrius Stonys, Kristine Briede, directores
- Luxemburgo: Tel Aviv on Fire. Sameh Zoabi, director
- Macedonia del Norte: Honeyland. Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska, directores
- Malasia: M for Malaysia. Dian Lee, Ineza Roussille, directores
- Marruecos: Adam. Maryam Touzani, directora
- México: La camarista. Lila Avilés, directora
- Mongolia: The Steed. Erdenebileg Ganbold, director
- Montenegro: Neverending Past. Andro Martinović, director
- Nepal: Bulbul. Binod Paudel, director
- Nigeria: Lionheart. Genevieve Nnaji, directora
- Noruega: Out Stealing Horses. Hans Petter Moland, director
- Pakistán: Laal Kabootar. Kamal Khan, director
- Palestina: It Must Be Heaven. Elia Suleiman, director
- Panamá: Todos cambiamos. Arturo Montenegro, director
- Perú: Retablo. Alvaro Delgado Aparicio, director
- Polonia: Corpus Christi. Jan Komasa, director
- Portugal: The Domain. Tiago Guedes, director
- Reino Unido: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Chiwetel Ejiofor, director
- República Checa: The Painted Bird. Václav Marhoul, director
- Rumanía: The Whistlers. Corneliu Porumboiu, director
- Rusia: Beanpole. Kantemir Balagov, director
- Senegal: Atlantics. Mati Diop, directora
- Serbia: King Petar the First. Petar Ristovski, director
- Singapur: A Land Imagined. Yeo Siew Hua, director
- Sudáfrica: Knuckle City. Jahmil X.T. Qubeka, director
- Suecia: And Then We Danced. Levan Akin, director
- Suiza: Wolkenbruch’s Wondrous Journey into the Arms of a Shiksa. Michael Steiner, director
- Taiwán: Dear Ex. Mag Hsu, Chih-Yen Hsu, directores
- Tailandia: Krasue: Inhuman Kiss. Sitisiri Mongkolsiri, directora
- Túnez: Dear Son. Mohamed Ben Attia, director
- Turquía: Commitment Asli. Semih Kaplanoglu, director
- Ucrania: Homeward. Nariman Aliev, director
- Uruguay: The Moneychanger. Federico Veiroj, director
- Uzbekistán: Hot Bread. Umid Khamdamov, director
- Venezuela: Yo, imposible. Patricia Ortega, directora
- Vietnam: Furie. Le Van Kiet, director