'Minotaur' Caught Between France and Germany Oscar Bid
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- Minotaur appeared as the only 'provisionally' designated entry on Germany's 11-film Oscar longlist, reflecting uncertainty over whether France will instead submit it as its own candidate
- France is considered the more likely submission country, with Paris-based MK2 and CG Cinema aboard as primary producers and Arte France among the financiers
- Zvyagintsev's third potential Oscar nomination would be his first not under the Russian flag — the director is now in exile and the film is read as veiled criticism of the Putin regime, despite being filmed entirely in Latvia
- France faces a wildcard in Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 'All Of A Sudden,' which can qualify for either Japan or France and just opened bigger in France than any Hamaguchi film including 'Drive My Car'
- Germany has stronger fallback options this year, including İlker Çatak's Berlin Golden Bear winner 'Yellow Letters,' while France's 2025 lineup is not considered as deep
- Netflix's 'La Bola Negra' is described as the early frontrunner in the overall Best International Film race, though some critics say this year's category lacks the powerhouse crossovers of recent editions like 'Anatomy of a Fall' and 'Emilia Pérez'
- The submission choice carries political weight: Minotaur's dissident-director credentials place it on similar terrain to last year's controversial French selection of Jafar Panahi's 'It Was Just An Accident'
Why it matters: France's Oscar submission process is described in the source as 'among the most political of categories,' with active jostling between co-production countries and companies — Minotaur's anti-Putin framing and Zvyagintsev's exile status make the country choice (France vs. Germany vs. potential Latvian claim) a decision with diplomatic weight, not just industrial preference, especially given last year's uproar over France picking an Iranian-made dissident film.
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