If the race for Best International Feature Film feels rushed this year, it is: the Academy pushed up country submission deadlines by a month. Films still have until November 15 to play in theaters in their respective countries. The Academy has also laid down more rigorous rules for who serves on the Oscar selection committees: 50 percent must be filmmakers (including artists and craftspeople). France, for example, beefed up its committee from seven members to 11.
As a country with a robust film industry, France has often been criticized for picking the “wrong” Oscar submission, from Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Titane” (Neon), which was not nominated, to “The Taste of Things” (IFC Films) over Neon’s eventual Best Picture contender, “Anatomy of a Fall.”
In fact, Audrey Diwan, director of “Happening” — a film many thought should have been submitted instead of “Titane” — is now on the French selection committee, along with veteran producer Patrick Wachsberger (“CODA”), producer Rosalie Varda (“Faces, Places”), and playwright filmmaker Florian Zeller (“The Father”).
France has just selected French auteur Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical “Emilia Pérez,” which won two major prizes at Cannes. Netflix took North American and U.K. rights in a competitive bidding war led by Netflix awards chief Lisa Taback, whose team will push hard for the movie in multiple categories, including Best Picture. Spanish trans actress Karla Sofia Gascón is contending for Best Actress for her dual leading role as a macho drug kingpin who transitions to being a woman, with Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez in the Supporting Actress category. Audiard is also a strong contender for both writer (with Thomas Bidegain and Nicolas Livecchi) and director.
Its chief rival for Best Picture at this stage is another Cannes title, Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner, anarchic comedy “Anora” (Neon). But other studio titles will emerge over time.
“Emilia Pérez” was long expected as the French submission. It’s the noisiest movie to emerge from the fall film festivals, received first runner-up for the People’s Choice award in Toronto, and already is a French box-office hit.
That doesn’t mean everyone loves the movie; it has some detractors. But it dominated Telluride and Toronto, along with Neon’s “Anora.” And the film beat out three other shortlisted movies: an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ rip-roaring period adventure “The Count of Monte Cristo,” also a smash in France, plus Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix-winner “All We Imagine as Light” (Janus/Sideshow) and Alain Guiraudie’s understated edgy thriller “Misericordia.”
As a Cannes Grand Prix winner and critics’ favorite, “All We Imagine as Light” is now a strong contender for India’s Oscar submission, which will be announced September 27. But India has other films to choose from and its track record for picking the “right” submission is worse than France: India has not earned an Oscar nomination since “Lagaan” in 2001.
If “All We Imagine as Light” doesn’t make the India submission, it has other options. With huge critical support behind them, last year, two foreign-language features landed in the Best Picture race (“Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest”), proving yet again the power of the international bloc in the Academy, who make up 20 percent of the voters.
What competition will “Emilia Pérez” face in the international race? As one of the few likely contenders directed by a woman of color, “All We Imagine as Light” could rack up support, along with Rungano Nyoni’s Cannes title “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” (A24), from Zambia. At the last “All We Imagine as Light” screening at Telluride, word of mouth drove the likes of Jason Reitman, Alfonso Cuaron, and Ed Lachman to sample the film. And ever since its Cannes premiere, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Neon) is another strong word of mouth builder, a surprising entry from Germany for Mohammad Rasoulof, a filmmaker banned by Iran.
For now, “Emilia Pérez” is looking good for multiple Oscars with Best Picture in its sights. Best International Feature Film may be icing on the cake.
Check out out international Oscar predictions here.
