“Emilia Perez” and “The Count of Monte Cristo” favorites to represent France

The CNC announced this Wednesday the four pre-selected films to represent France at the Oscars in March 2025 in the best international film category. Next step on September 18.

Land Count of Monte-Cristo, Emilia Perez, Mercy et All We Imagine as Light are the four films pre-selected to represent France at the Oscars in March 2025, the National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC) announced on Wednesday, September 11.

On September 18, the committee responsible for this selection will meet again to audition the producers, international sales representatives and, if applicable, the American distributors of each pre-selected film. At the end of these auditions, it will designate the feature film that will represent France in the race for the Oscar for best international film 2025. Hopefully it will not repeat the hiccup of the 2024 edition, when The passion of Dodin-Bouffant had, against all logic, been preferred to Anatomy of a fallwith the result that we know – Tranh An Hung’s academic ode to gastronomy was not even nominated for best international film, while Justice Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning thriller received five nominations in the other categories, with a statuette for best original screenplay to boot.

To avoid this – and to cut short suspicions of favouritism and political intervention – the CNC has significantly reduced the commission, which has been reduced to eleven members appointed on an equal basis (1), instead of the previous seven. In addition, the president of the CNC no longer attends the sessions as an observer. Only the president of Unifrance, the organisation responsible for promoting the winning work abroad and supporting it during the Oscar campaign, is present but without a deliberative vote.

Predictions

If the preselection of Mercy (in theaters October 16) is a great show of confidence in its director Alain Guiraudie, this police comedy in the Aveyron region, as successful as it is, seems too “French-French” to have a chance of winning in March 2025.

One might also be surprised by the presence of the first feature-length fiction film by Indian director Payal Kapadia among the four finalists. But All we imagine as lightshot in Hindi in Delhi, is indeed a French co-production. And this very beautiful film, which will be released in theaters on October 2, won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Enough to create a surprise? Probably not, because, on paper, The Count of Monte Cristo et Emilia Perez have the best assets to make French cinema triumph at the Oscar for best international film.

The adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ bestseller by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière can highlight its status as a prestigious blockbuster with high added cultural value and, above all, its public triumph (the 8 million spectator mark has already been passed). Jacques Audiard’s “trans” musical, which won two awards at the last Cannes Film Festival (Jury Prize and Collective Award for Best Actress), can rely on its feminist and progressive themes (highly prized by Oscar voters), its cast of American stars (Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez) and the firepower of Netflix, which acquired the distribution rights to the film in the United States. So, Pierre Niney or Karla Sofía Gascón? Verdict on September 18.