After countless misfires and successive rejigging of its committee, France came close to winning its first Oscar for best international feature in over three decades with Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez.” But in a last-minute twist worthy of a movie, “Emilia Perez’s” chances of winning the statuette evaporated following the scandal surrounding Karla Sofia Gascon’s offensive tweets. Ultimately, nothing could stop Brazil from winning Walter Salles’ heartfelt family saga “I’m Still Here.”
France’s misfortunes in this category has often been blamed, among other things, on the abundance of French films to choose from, hence the large margin of error. And it appears that France will once again face an embarrassment of riches and some heated discussions within its selection board.
At this point, no films have been submitted for consideration, but the most likely candidate and probable frontrunner is “Nouvelle Vague,” Richard Linklater’s homage to Jean-Luc Godard’s cult 1960 movie “Breathless” which was acquired by Netflix at Cannes, followed by Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Vie Privée” starring Jodie Foster and bought by Sony Pictures Classics. Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winning “It Was Just an Accident,” acquired by Neon, will also probably be in the mix as it was mainly produced in France.
“Nouvelle Vague” didn’t win a prize at Cannes but it earned a rousing standing ovation, enraptured response from festivalgoers — including Quentin Tarantino who was visibly moved by the film — and unanimous praise by critics, especially American ones with Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman calling it an “enchanting ode to the rapture of cinema.” In a similar way as Michel Hazanavacius’ black-and-while “The Artist” was seen as a French love letter to Hollywood and struck a chord in the U.S. where it won an impressive five Oscars, “Nouvelle Vague” is an American director’s love letter to French cinema, and more precisely that New Wave era which spanned late 1950’s and 1960’s with helmers such as Godard, Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol and Agnes Varda, among others, inspiring some of the greatest American filmmakers of the New Hollywood age and beyond, from Martin Scorsese to Brian de Palma and Tarantino.
Despite some speculations at Cannes, “Nouvelle Vague” is eligible to be selected by France’s Oscar committee since it was shot mostly in French — the AMPAS rule calls for international feature films to have a “predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track.”
Linklater’s American nationality doesn’t factor in, because the film was backed by a local artistic and production team; a decisive eligibility criteria under the current AMPAS guidelines which states that the “creative control of the film” has to be “largely in the hands of citizens, residents, or individuals with refugee or asylum status in the submitting country.”
“Nouvelle Vague” was indeed produced by Laurent Pétin at Michèle Halberstadt at Paris-based ARP Selection, while Halberstadt and Laetitia Masson are also credited as co-screenwriters (for the adaptation), alongside Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo Jr. The cast is also mostly French with the exception of Zoey Deutch who stars as French New Wave darling Jean Seberg.
The only hurdle is that “Nouvelle Vague” has an Oct. 10 release date which is past the Sept. 30 deadline that the AMPAS has set for local theatrical releases. But ARP Selection, which is also a prominent distribution company in France, could work things out by either moving the launch date or doing a simple technical release before Sept. 30. It remains to be seen how much campaigning efforts and resources Netflix will be willing to dedicate after splurging — in vain — for “Emilia Perez;” and whether the streamer will position “Nouvelle Vague” in main categories such as best picture, director and actress for Deutch.
It would certainly be ironic — and hard to swallow for some — to finally see an American filmmaker score France’s first international feature film Oscar after more than 30 years (the last one dates back to 1993 with Regis Wargnier with “Indochine”).
Zlotowski’s latest film, “Vie Privée” could also be submitted if its distributor Ad Vitam moves up its release date which is currently set for Nov. 26. The humor-laced psychological thriller stars Foster as a therapist investigating on the suicide of a patient, convinced she was actually murdered. The French star-studded movie earned mostly positive reviews at Cannes where it played out of competition. Besides the film’s upscale profile and pedigree of Sony Pictures Classics as a top Oscar campaigner, another factor that could play in favor of “Vie Privée” is Zlotowski’s solid reputation in France (including from her peers) where she received this year’s French Cinema Award.
Panahi’s Palme d’Or “It Was Just an Accident” is another potential contender even though it’s an Iranian film shot in Persian. Like last year’s “All We Image as Light,” directed by Payal Kapadia, was shortlisted by France’s Oscar committee because it was produced in France, “It Was Just an Accident” is eligible to represent France at the Oscars because Panahi produced it with the French company Les Films Pelléas and co-producers in Luxembourg (which could also submit the film as their official Oscar entry). Panahi’s first film since being released from prison in Iran, “It Was Just an Accident” centers around a group of former prisoners and their torturous guard. Neon will campaign for Panahi’s movie, along with other foreign-language films it bought at Cannes and earlier, such as Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” which will almost certainly represent Norway, Oliver Laxe’s “Sirât,” a potential Spanish candidate and Kleber Mendonça Filho‘s “The Secret Agent” which might be chosen by Brazil.
The Venice Film Festival could also launch some buzzed about French films that could enter the international feature film race, notably Alice Winocour’s “Coutures” starring Angelina Jolie and set in Paris during the fashion week. The latter, represented internationally by Hanway, shot mostly in French and is produced by Charles Gillibert at CG Cinema, but it has extensive English dialogue. “Coutures” also doesn’t yet have a U.S. distributor but might land one before or at Venice if it opens there.
The country revamped its Oscar committee in 2022 by taking out permanent members such as the president of the Cesar Awards, Cannes Film Festival boss and National Film Board head; and expanded it in 2024 with more professionals and filmmakers who are meant to serve this year again — although some will most certainly be excused due to a conflict of interest, for instance “Nouvelle Vague” producer, Halberstadt, and possibly David Thion, whose company produced Panahi’s movie.
Other members expected to be returning are Charles Tesson, the former artistic director of Cannes’ Critics Week; director Audrey Diwan who won Venice’s Golden Lion with “Happening” in 2021; playwright, director and producer Florian Zeller (“The Father”); former Lionsgate boss Patrick Wachsberger; international sales veterans Carole Baraton from Charades, and Gregoire Melin from Kinology; producers Rosalie Varda (“Faces Places”) from Ciné-Tamaris and Nadim Cheikhroua (“Olfa’s Daughters”); and actor Clemence Poesy. Up to five films will be shortlisted by this committee whose first meeting will take place in early September.