Films were submitted by Mongolia, Palestine and Sri Lanka for the first time. Palestine had tried to submit a film the year before, but was prevented from doing so by the Academy which said that Palestine was not a country and had no recognized Film Board. The Academy subsequently changed its mind saying that although Palestine was not a recognized country, they would make "an exception" in the interests of inclusiveness.
The Film Federation of India announced that their selection committee had been unable to find a suitable film to send to the Oscars and so declined to send an entry. This left India out of the race for the first time in over a decade. Also notable by their first absence in over ten years was Switzerland (though they were disqualified in 1994).