France has selected Jacques Audiard’s bold musical “Emilia Perez” to represent the country in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film race, giving that category an instant frontrunner at the 97th Academy Awards.
The Netflix film, which caused a sensation at the Cannes Film Festival with its story of a Mexican drug lord undergoing sex reassignment surgery, is considered one of the year’s likeliest Best Picture nominees, making it a clear favorite in the international category as well.
It was chosen on Wednesday by a selection committee that had narrowed its choices to four: “Emilia Perez,” Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light,” Matthieu Delaporte’s “The Count of Monte Cristo” and Alain Guiraudie’s “Misericordia.”
Last year, that committee chose “The Taste of Things” over “Anatomy of a Fall,” going with a ravishing romance over an edgier drama that had won the top prize in Cannes. “The Taste of Things” ended up making the shortlist but not being nominated, while “Anatomy of a Fall” received four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress, and won in the Best Original Screenplay category.
The choice of “Emilia Perez” can partially be seen as a mea culpa from the French committee, who almost certainly lost out on a nomination by not choosing “Anatomy” last year.
France leads all countries in the number of nominations in the category, and it’s second only to Italy in the number of wins. It has made the shortlist in three of the last four years, but it wasn’t nominated any of those years. Its last nomination was for “Les Miserables” in 2019, and its last win was for “Indochine” in 1992, more than 30 years ago.
While “Emilia Perez” is by far the highest profile film in the category so far, other notable films in this year’s international race include Germany’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” from Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, who fled Iran after being sentenced to flogging and nine years in prison for making the film in secret.
Also in the running: Cambodia’s “Meeting With Pol Pot” from Rithy Panh, the director who brought Cambodia its only Oscar nomination with “The Missing Picture”; Iceland’s “Touch,” from director Baltasar Kormakur; Ireland’s “Kneecap”; Morocco’s “Everybody Loves Touda” and Portugal’s “Grand Tour.”
Each country with a selection committee authorized by the Academy can submit a single film for consideration in the race. A first round of voting by volunteers from all branches of the Academy will narrow the field down to a 15-film shortlist, which will be announced in late December; a second round open to voters who watch all the films on the shortlist will choose the five nominees.
With two weeks remaining before the Oct. 2 deadline for submissions, more than 50 countries have announced their choices. This is on par with the pace of submissions last year, when 89 countries entered films and 88 were deemed eligible, five shy of the record of 93.
Here is the list of submissions so far. Inclusion on this list does not guarantee that a film will qualify, because the Academy still needs to vet each film to make sure it meets eligibility requirements ranging from the amount of non-English dialogue to the creative control exercised by the country of origin.
A list with descriptions of every entry and links to available trailers is here.
Albania: “Waterdrop,” Robert Budina
Algeria: “Algiers,” Chakib Taleb-Bendiab
Armenia: “Yasha and Leonid Brezhnev,” Edgar Baghdasaryan
Austria: “The Devil’s Bath,” Veronika Franz & Several Fiala
Belgium: “Julie Keeps Quiet,” Leonardo Van Dijl
Bolivia: “Own Hand,” Rodrigo “Gory” Patino
Bulgaria: “Triumph,” Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov
Cambodia: “Meeting With Pol Pot,” Rithy Panh
Canada: “Universal Language,” Matthew Rankin
Chile: “In Her Place,” Maite Alberdi
Colombia: “La Suprema,” Felipe Holguin Caro
Costa Rica: “Memories of a Burning Body,” Antonella Sudasassi
Croatia: “Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day,” Ivona Juka
Czech Republic: “Waves,” Jiri Madi
Ecuador: “Behind the Mist,” Sebastian Cordero
Egypt: “Flight 404,” Hani Khalifa
Estonia: “8 Views of Lake Biwa,” Marko Raat
Finland: “Family Time,” Tia Kouvo
France: “Emilia Perez,” Jacques Audiard
Georgia: “The Antique,” Rusudan Glurjidze
Germany: “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Mohammad Rasoulof
Greece: “Murderess,” Eva Nathena
Hungary: “Semmelweis,” Lajos Koltai
Iceland: “Touch,” Baltasar Kormakur
Indonesia: “Women From Rote Island,” Jeremias Nyangoen
Iraq: “Baghdad Messi,” Sahim Omar Kalifa
Ireland: “Kneecap,” Rich Peppiatt
Israel: “Come Closer,” Tom Nesher
Japan: “Cloud,” Kurosawa Kiyoshi
Kenya: “Nawi,” Vallentine Chelluget, Apuu Mourine, Kevin Schmutzler and Toby Schmutzler
Kyrgyzstan: “Heaven Is Beneath Mother’s Feet,” Rusian Akun
Latvia: “Flow,” Gints Zilbalodis
Lithuania: “Drowning Dry,” Laurynas Bareisa
Morocco: “Everybody Loves Touda,” Nabil Ayouch
Nepal: “Shambhala,” Min Bahadur Bham
Netherlands: “Memory Lane,” Jelle de Jonge
Palestine: “From Ground Zero,” Aws Al-Banna, Ahmed Al-Danf, Basil Al-Maqousi, Mustafa Al-Nabih, Muhammad Alshareef, Ala Ayob, Bashar Al Balbisi, Alaa Damo, Awad Hana, Ahmad Hassunah, Mustafa Kallab, Satoum Kareem, Mahdi Karera, Rabab Khamees, Khamees Masharawi, Wissam Moussa, Tamer Najm, Abu Hasna Nidaa, Damo Nidal, Mahmoud Reema, Etimad Weshah and Islam Al Zrieai
Panama: “Wake Up Mom,” Arianne Benedetti
Peru: “Yana-Wara,” Oscar Catacora and Tito Catacora
Poland: “Under the Volcano,” Damian Kocur
Portugal: “Grand Tour,” Miguel Gomes
Romania : “Three Kilometres to the End of the World,” Emanuel Parvu
Senegal: “Dahomey,” Mati Diop
Serbia: “Russian Consul,” Miroslav Lekic
Slovakia: “The Hungarian Dressmaker,” Iveta Grofova
Slovenia: “Family Therapy,” Sonja Prosenc
South Korea: “12.12: The Day,” Kim Sung-su
Spain: “Saturn Return,” Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodriguez
Taiwan: “Old Fox,” Hsiao Ya-chuan
Turkey: “Life,” Zeki Demirkubuz
Ukraine: “La Palisiada,” Philip Sotnychenko
Uruguay: “The Door Is There,” Facundo Ponce de Leon and Juan Ponce de Leon