France hasn’t won an international Oscar in 30 years — which is disastrous considering, year in and year out, they produced some of the best films in world cinema.
That’s why there was considerable surprise and shock when France selected Trần Anh Hùng’s “The Taste of Things” as their Oscar selection for this year’s Best International Film. Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” was snubbed by the selection committee.
When the Oscar nominations were announced, ‘Taste of Things’ did not even figure in the final five nominees and, to make matters worse, Triet’s film garnered five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress. Yikes.
French critics were very angry by the selection and showed their dissatisfaction via numerous think pieces. Triet also seemed none too pleased. She ended up reposting a bunch of messages on Instagram that criticized the snub, some even hinting at a political decision, punishment for her Cannes speech where she criticized the politics of the Macron government.
Now, a fascinating behind the scenes report from Variety’s Elsa Keslassy is shedding some light on how the decision to select ‘Taste of Things’ arose in the backrooms of the French selection committee. It does sound like things got pretty nasty:
This year’s committee, which ended up clashing violently over the final decision, according to several insiders, included former Lionsgate boss Patrick Wachsberger, Charles Gillibert, the producer of “Annette,” Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat, as well as directors Olivier Assayas (“Carlos”) and Mounia Meddour (“Papicha”), and sales agents Sabine Chemaly and Tanja Meissner. The vote came down to 4-3 split but then one person who had voted for “The Taste of Things” changed their mind and asked for a second vote which was turned down, according to an insider.
According to the report, some people on the committee, who voted for ‘The Taste of Things,’ had the image of voters for that category as “older, nostalgic folks”, and did not take into account the fact that Oscar voters had changed; they were now younger and more diverse than they used to be. “They like to be challenged,” said an industry source close to the committee.
France reorganized their selection committee last year, Cannes boss Thierry Fremaux had been nixed, among others, and this was supposed to be France’s year to finally win the International Oscar. They definitely had the goods in “Anatomy of A Fall.”
This latest dubious decision comes hot off the heels of another strange French pick for Oscar. In 2022, France had selected Palme d’Or winner “Titane” over Audrey Diwan’s Golden Lion winning abortion drama “Happening” which had momentum going for it due to it having been released in the U.S. as the Supreme Court voted to strike down Roe v. Wade.