Anatomy of a Fall, On the Black Paths, Goutte d'or... The films in the running to represent France at the Oscars

The Palme d'Or Anatomy of a Fall, The Passion of Dodin Bouffant and On the Black Paths are among the five films in the running to represent France at the 2024 Oscars, the National Cinematography Center (CNC) announced on Wednesday.

The selection between these films must be made following a commission which brings together producers, international sellers and American distributors of each preselected film. This meeting is scheduled to take place on September 21. One director – the winner of the 2023 Palme d’Or, Justine Triet – and four directors are in the running. Four of these feature films (Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, Goutte d'or by Clément Cogitore, La Passion by Dodin Bouffant - directing prize - by Tran Anh Hung and Le Règne animal by Thomas Cailley which is due to be released on October 4) were presented at the Cannes Film Festival. The fifth film is On the Black Paths by Denis Imbert, with Jean Dujardin. It exceeded one million spectators at the box office. Last year, the film Saint-Omer, doubly awarded at the Venice Film Festival, by director Alice Diop was chosen to represent France at the Oscars.

The last French film to win the Oscar for best international film was Indochina by Régis Wargnier, in 1993. Titane by Julia Ducournau, French representative in 2022, had not been preselected by the Academy of Oscars.