(Paris) The French National Cinema Center (CNC) is changing its committee responsible for selecting the feature film competing for the best foreign film award at the Oscars, a few months after a controversy that arose from its decision to exclude Anatomy of a fall in 2024.
Rather than choosing Anatomy of a fall by Justine Triet, an international success notably crowned with a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which had a chance of winning this award, France had proposed to the Academy of Oscars The passion of Dodin Bouffant by Tran Anh Hung.
The latter was ultimately not selected by the Academy among the works nominated for the Oscar for best international film.
Anatomy of a fallnominated in five other categories by the organizers, won the Oscar for best screenplay.
“The CNC has modified the commission responsible for selecting the Oscar for best international film,” it announced in a press release.
From seven members, it goes to 11, “in order to promote the collegiality of the debates, the diversity of points of view and the secret nature of the vote”, explained the public establishment for the promotion of the 7e art.
This commission will be appointed for two years, instead of one year until now.
“Finally, the president of the CNC will no longer attend sessions as an observer” in order to “strengthen the independence of the commission, both with regard to public authorities and professional interests”, added the CNC.
“Qualified personalities in the field of cinema”, the 11 members are “always appointed by the Minister responsible for Culture on the proposal of the President of the CNC”. At least six must be “artists or technicians of cinema”, as required by the Oscars regulations.
The press had wondered about the possibility that the choice of The passion of Dodin Bouffant either political, in reaction to the speech given by Justine Triet during the presentation of the 2023 Palme d’Or in Cannes, in which she accused the government and the President of the Republic of wanting to “break the cultural exception”.
“It’s the decision of four people in a room,” the filmmaker lamented.