France chooses 5 finalists for the coveted Oscar submission
Thursday, September 15, 2022 at 10:48AM by Nathaniel R
France is the most-nominated country of all time in the Best International Feature Film Oscar race. What's more their tally is so impressive it will be probably be several decades before anyone catches up (IF that ever happens). Though they don't lead in winners (Italy holds that distinction) they haven't ever had a true slump of being passed over for nominations* so they're always crucial to watch. Consider the crazy impressive stats. They are the only country to submit to each and every Oscar race in this category. Their total honors include 38 nominations, 9 wins, and 3 additional finalists from 67 submissions. Before this became a competitive category in 1956, they won 3 Honorary Awards.
What will they select this year? The Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, the agency responsible for choosing France's submission has named five finalists, all but one of which are from female directors. Here's a little detail on each film (if the title is linked it goes to our festival coverage)...
FULL TIME (À PLEIN TEMPS) (Eric Gravel)
Laure Calamy stars as a woman racing to a job interview during a transit strike. The film was a success at Venice last year picking up prizes for both Gravel's direction and Calamy's performance. Elisa says it gives off "strong Dardenne vibes" and was amazed by Calamy's performance.
ONE FINE MORNING (UN BEAU MATIN) (Mia Hansen-Løve)
This romantic drama starring Léa Seydoux and Melvil Poupaud was well-loved at Cannes this summer and Hansen-Løve's international following has been growing after several critical successes (Things to Come, Bergman Island, and Eden among them) Back in the summer pundits were expecting this to become France's Oscar submission but French cinema is so robust that nothing is ever "safe" as a submission prospect. Now it has major competition. Sony Pictures Classics will release in the US, date TBA.
PARIS MEMORIES (REVOIR PARIS) (Alice Winocour)
The always great Virginie Efira stars as a woman struggling with her memory after a terrorist attack in a bistro. Her co-stars include Benoît Magimel and Grégoire Colon. Writer/director Winocour is arguably best known for writing the Oscar-nominated Mustang (on my top ten list in its year) which also won her a César Award. Revoir Paris is her fourth feature as a director, her most recent previous film being the international astronaut drama Proxima starring Eva Green.
SAINT OMER (Alice Diop)
This courtroom drama about Senagelese immigrants and infanticide won the Silver Lion and the Luigi de Laurentiis prize at Venice (essentially second place and 'best debut'). It's the narrative feature debut of Alice Diop, who has been widely acclaimed for her documentaries and shorts winning a César along with prizes at a few festivals. It's also easy to imagine this one becoming the submission.
THE WORST ONES (LES PIRES) (Lise Asoka and Romane Gueret)
This is the directorial debut for this female duo, who previously worked together on shorts, tv episodes, and a music video. It's a drama about neighborhood teenagers who are chosen to act in a feature film during their summer break. It won Un Certain Regard this summer at Cannes. Kino Lorber will distribute the film next year in the US.
We suspect they'll choose either Saint Omer or One Fine Morning so our prediction is Saint Omer by a hair, with recency helping its cause. But we've been surprised before!
* Despite France's seeming inability to win anymore (it's been 30 years!) they have never truly fallen out of Oscar's favour. The longest "drought" in terms of nominations was a five year absence from 2010-2014 during which time they submitted the strong religious drama Of Gods and Men, the restless personal family memoir Declaration of War, the stylish gay biopic Saint Laurent, the international hit comedy The Intouchables (which was a finalist), the artist biopic Renoir. Their only other "drought" though you can't really call it that given the brevity was just three years long. That happened twice from 1993-1995 and again from 2016-2018. Curiously in both of those three year gaps from the Oscar love it was not from lack of stellar submissions. Somehow Oscar voters turned their noses up at André Techine's vivid coming-of-age film Wild Reeds (1994), the international hit sex-comedy French Twist (1995), the Best Actress nominated/shoulda won Elle (2016), and the sensational AIDS activism drama BPM Beats Per Minute (2017).
Reader Comments (4)
J'adore Laure Calamy
Peggy -- i'll admit though i usually know French stars i dont really know who she is. People seem to love her performance though
She's so human and watchable. She was in Call My Agent! playing a secretary in love with her boss and also did this comedy with a donkey (César win). Also very good in the bleak Only the Animals by Dominik Moll.
I got turned off Calamy when my first exposure was the godawful ANTOINETTE IN THE CEVANNES, but quickly turned my opinion around after FULL TIME. (And then realised I had seen her before in supporting roles in ONLY THE ANMIALS, SYBIL and CLAIRE DARLING.) FT is extraordinary, turning the daily struggles of a single working mother into an action thriller.