After this year’s fiasco, the question is on everyone’s lips among moviegoers: which film will represent France at the Oscars? This year, Anatomy of a fall Justine Triet was snubbed by the selection committee in favor of The Passion of Dodin-Bouffant of Tran Anh Hung. The culinary film starring Benoît Magimel and Juliette Binoche ultimately did not win the statuette for Best International Film. To counter the curse, the CNC has modified its selection committee. The pre-list of films in competition was unveiled on September 11. The following are in the running to represent France in Hollywood: All We Imagine as Light of Payal Kapadia, Mercy d’Alain Guiraudie, The Count of Monte Cristo d’Alexander of La Patellière et Matthew Delaporte et Emilia Perez of Jacques Audiard.
This delightful pre-selection reflects the diversity of French creation between great popular success, cinematographic demands, powerful messages, big names and talented revelations. We take stock of the films chosen in the first round.
Films coming soon to the cinema
With All We Imagine as LightIndian director Payal Kapadia has written a powerful social and feminist story about the sisterhood woven between two nurses: the eldest is abandoned by her husband who left to work abroad the day after their wedding, the youngest has a forbidden and passionate affair with a young Muslim man, looking for a place to make love with him in Mumbai. This sensitive story of thwarted love, stifling traditions and solidarity earned its director the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. “Love is political everywhere,” she told us during the fortnight. “But especially in our country, divided by religion and the caste system. It is important to me that these boundaries disappear, that we are free to love and marry anyone. There is still a long way to go.” To be discovered on October 2 in theaters.
After Come I’ll take youAlain Guiraudie adapts another part of his novel Rabalaïre with Mercy. The pitch of this thriller carried by Félix Kysyl et Catherine asked ? “Jérémie returns to Saint-Martial for the funeral of his former baker boss. He stays with Martine, his widow, for a few days. But between a mysterious disappearance, a threatening neighbor and a priest with strange intentions, his short stay in the village takes an unexpected turn…” A story of forgiveness (and mushrooms) around an investigation that awakens desires and taboos in a village in Ardèche. In theaters October 16.
Young French actors and American stars
On the adaptation side, it is impossible to ignore the Count of Monte Cristoa cinema phenomenon since its release on June 28. The adaptation of the masterpiece byAlexandre Dumas highlights the best of what French cinema does in terms of special effects, costumes and sets. “I have worked a lot with Pierre-Olivier Persinthe make-up artist who did all the transformations on my face, Pierre Niney told us. He also works for American productions. It’s also thanks to him that I was able to play several characters in one. We took the concept and realism to the limit, to create a real disturbance in Mercédès and to make Edmond Dantès as unrecognizable as possible. This film is a declaration of love to all the professions that make cinema better than anyone else and even better than the Americans sometimes.” In theaters, Pierre Niney’s performance won over the crowds with more than 8 million admissions. The film honors a new generation of French actors, including Anamaria Vartolomeil, Vassili Schneider and Julien de Saint Jean, who we could well see setting off to conquer Hollywood.
Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón, the stars of Emilia Perez, confide: “It was love that made this film”
In Emilia Perezby Jacques Audiard, Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez deliver a brilliant performance. Discussion with the three actresses of the film, awarded the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
And then there’s the tornado Emilia Perezfrom which one does not emerge entirely unscathed. In a Mexico undermined by cartels, Rita (breathtaking Zoe Saldaña) accepts money from a drug trafficker (Karla Sofia Gascon) for a surprising mission: to facilitate his gender transition, camouflage his future identity and shelter his wife (Selena Gomez) and children abroad. The lawyer finds herself propelled into an environment that is the polar opposite of her own, guardian of a heavy secret that confronts her with her own moral limits. Jacques Audiard signs a stunning piece of cinema, unique because it is at the crossroads of musical comedy, drama and thriller. A hint of kitsch, humor, raw poetry and here is a remarkable film, which earned its director the Jury Prize and its four actresses (with Adriana Paz), a collective Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is still in theaters, not to be missed.
The CNC selection committee will meet again on September 18 to hold auditions to select the film that will represent France in the race for the Oscar for best international film in 2025.
