The French film council, the CNC, on Friday unveiled the first seven-member council to elect France‘s official contender for the best of 2023 International provided with Oscar.
Acclaimed French Directors Michael Gondry (Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind) and Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bones, A Prophet) will sit on the committee, along with CODA producer Philippe Rousselet, Godland producer Didar Domehri, film sales executives Hengameh Panahi, president of French sales group Celluloid Dreams, Kinology president Grégoire Melin and Ariane Toscan du Plantier, director of French and international distribution at French media group Gaumont.
The seven-member board will meet twice – on September 15, where they will pre-select three to five French films eligible for 2023 Oscars — and on September 22 when they will meet the producers and sales companies representing the shortlisted films before making their final selection.
The chairman of the CNC and the chairman of the French film promotion group Unifrance will participate in the meetings as observers, but have no voting rights.
The French entry for the 2023 Oscars must be sent to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences by October 3.
Only French productions – films where the majority of the artistic team is French – mainly shot in a language other than English (though not necessarily in French) released between January 1 and November 1. 30, 2022 will be considered.
Earlier this week, French Culture Minister Rima Abdul-Malak issued a decree revision of the
French Oscar Selection Committeewhich has been criticized for being out of sync with Academy voters.
Last year, the selection committee chose Julia Ducournau’s controversial and divisive Palme d’Or winner Titanium to represent France for Audrey Diwan’s abortion drama happensa movie that many thought would have had a better shot at the Oscars. Titanium did not make the Oscars shortlist.
Of the last 10 French international Oscar entries, only four made it to the final shortlist, and only two – Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang in 2015 and Ladj Ly’s miserable in 2019 — received Oscar nominations. Neither won. France hasn’t won an Oscar for best international film since Régis Wargnier’s Indo-China in 1993.