List of Kazakh submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

This is the list of Kazakh submissions for the American Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film category. Kazakhstan has submitted three films for consideration since gaining its independence from the USSR in 1991. In 2008, Kazakhstan received its first-ever Oscar nomination, for the epic Genghis Khan biography, "Mongol". Kazakhstan was the first Central Asian country to be nominated.

All three films were epic historical dramas, showcasing key moments in pre-Soviet Central Asian history. "The Fall of Otrar" and "Mongol" take place in the 13th century, while "Nomad" is set in the 17th century.

"The Fall of Otrar" was produced by Kazakhfilm studio while Kazakhstan was still a part of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan gained its indepedence in December of 1991 and submitted the film in Fall 1992 to compete for the 1993 Academy Awards. The film is a violent 3-hour drama, shot mostly in black and white with occasional bursts of color, about political intrigue in the city of Otrar immediately before Genghis Khan's invasion.

Although the Kazakh film industry continued to produce a number of small, independent films that achieved success at international film festivals (including The Killer, Shiza and "Little Men"), Kazakhstan did not submit any other films for consideration until 14 years later.

Kazakhstan rejoined the Oscar race in 2006 and 2007 with two new, big-budget action movies, both directed by Sergei Bodrov, an ethnic Russian and dual-citizen of both Russia and Kazakhstan. The films were "Nomad" and "Mongol".

"Nomad", the most expensive film ever made in Kazakhstan, was bankrolled by the Kazakh government and told the story of the young Ablai Khan, who would eventually unite a number of Kazakh tribes on the steppes of 18th century Kazakhstan. Bodrov replaced French director Ivan Passer as director of "Nomad" early in filming. "Mongol" was a lavish biography of the famed Mongolian leader Genghis Khan, from his childhood as a slave until the beginning of his conquest of much of the known world. In January 2008, AMPAS announced that "Mongol" had been selected from among 63 films as one of the five nominees for Best Foreign Language Film of the year. It eventually lost to Austria's The Counterfeiters.

Both of Bodrov's films were international co-prouctions featuring multi-national casts dubbed into Kazakh and Mongolian respectively. The lead actor in "Nomad" was American actor Jay Hernandez, while other supporting cast members came from Kazakhstan, Mexico and the USA. The lead actor in "Mongol" was Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano, while most of the supporting cast hailed from China and Mongolia.

"Nomad" and "Mongol" were released theatrically in a number of Western countries, including the United States in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

1997 Academy Award nominee Prisoner of the Mountains from Russia (and also directed by Sergei Bodrov) was a Kazakh co-production.