France has selected Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident to represent the country in the best international feature film Osca
France has selected Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident to represent the country in the best international feature film Oscars category.
The film was selected by an 11-member committee and was one of five shortlisted finalists that included Richard Linklater’s homage to the French up-to-date wave Nouvelle Vague, Rebecca Zlotowski’s A Private Life starring Jodie Foster, Hafsia Herzi’s Cannes best actress-winning The Little Sister, and Ugo Bienvenu’s 2D animation Arco.
Members of the committee, appointed by France’s cultural minister Rachida Dati based on a recommendation by national film body CNC, met on Wednesday (September 17) with the producers, international sales representatives, and US distributors of each film on the shortlist before announcing their final decision.
France has famously not won in the best international feature category since Regis Wargnier’s Indochine in 1993 and has not made it to the final nominations since Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables in 2020.
Selection ”proof” that France is “beating heart of co-productions”
It Was Just An Accident won the Palme d’Or in Cannes after world-premiering at the festival in May, and was snapped up by Neon for US distribution. While the film about a group of former political prisoners confronting the guard who they say once tortured them shot in exile in Iran is a mix of Farsi and Arabic, it is produced by Philippe Martin and David Thion of France’s Les Films Pelléas, in co-production with Iran’s Jafar Panahi Film Production and Luxembourg’s Bidibul Productions.
Mk2 Films handles international sales and Mubi has acquired the film for multiple international territories. Neon is planning an awards push for the film in categories including best picture, director, original screenplay, and international film. Memento will release the film in France on October 1.
Current president of the CNC Gaëtan Bruel said in a statement following the decision: “This Iranian drama, directed by the great filmmaker Jafar Panahi and produced with the decisive support of France, notably the CNC, through its Aide Aux Cinémas du Monde fund, is proof that our country, 130 years after inventing cinema, is the beating heart of international co-productions and a welcoming place for creators from around the world, especially those who are prevented from working in their own countries. I wish it every success in winning the prestigious statuette.”
Producer Philippe Martin of Les Films Pelleas told Screen: ”It is great news both for France and for Jafar Panahi, who has been making films for the past 30 years, but has never been able to compete for an Oscar because Iran never wanted him to represent the country. There was no other possibility for him to be present at the Oscars if it weren’t via France.
“The film was majority-financed by France and all of the post-production was done here. It was filmed in Iran with Iranian actors, but it is a French production,” Martin said, adding: ”I am torn between celebrating the good news of the continued success of this film and the tragedy it evokes. We can’t forget that the cheerful adventure of this film constantly reminds us that so many artists in Iran still cannot speak out or do their work.” Panahi is currently attending Busan Film Festival, and his film will next screen in New York Film Festival.
High stakes for France
The stakes were high for France to select a sturdy candidate in the category after it came close to winning last year with Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez, but did not take home the prize, likely due to the media circus surrounding its star Karla Sofia Gascon’s offensive tweets.
The year before, the country’s selection sparked outrage in the local industry when Tran Anh Hung’s culinary romance The Taste Of Things was chosen over Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning Anatomy Of A Fall. The latter went on to earn five nominations in other categories and took home the Oscar for best screenplay, leaving the selection committee facing criticism over missing out on an opportunity to earn a prize.
Neon, is on a six-year streak of holding US rights to Palme d’Or winners. It also handles US distribution on two other shortlisted French titles, namely The Little Sister and Arco. It is also distributing awards contenders like No Other Choice, The Secret Agent, and Sentimental Value.
Other French co-productions are poised to compete in the international feature film and other categories following sturdy buzz out of Cannes and early fall festival season. They include Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value (Norway) and Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice Of Hind Rajab (Tunisia). Hot off of its Venice Golden Lion win, Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, produced by France’s CG Cinema, is also a potential contender in several categories.
COMMENTS