The shortlist of the five films pre-selected to represent France at the 2016 Oscars was announced yesterday by the official nomination committee.
The following five films are included in the shortlist:
- Dheepan by Jacques Audiard (Palme d'Or at Cannes)
- The Measure of a Man by Stéphane Brizé (Best Actor for Vincent Lindon at Cannes)
- Mustang by Deniz Gamze Ergüven (Directors' Fortnight, Europa Cinemas Label at Cannes)
- Marguerite by Xavier Giannoli (Official Selection at Venice)
- Summertime by Catherine Corsini (selected at Locarno and Toronto)
The nomination committee, composed of Nathalie Baye, Thierry Frémaux, Michel Hazanavicius, Mélanie Laurent, Jean-Paul Salomé, (president of Unifrance), Alain Terzian, and Serge Toubiana will present their verdict on the film to represent France on September 22.
By the time the Oscars ceremony comes around, only five countries (selected from the approximately one hundred countries who propose a film each year) will be represented in the Best Foreign-Language Film category.
It is worth noting that the last time a French film was included in the nominees for this category was in 2009, with A Prophet by Jacques Audiard, and the last time France won the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film was in 1992, with Indochina by Régis Wargnier. Since this award was created in 1956, France has been awarded nine Oscars for Best Foreign-Language Film.
French films like The Artist, which picked up a string of Oscars, are not presented in this category.
