France Shortlists De Gaulle, Minotaur for Oscar Race — SkimNews
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- CNC (France's national film board) shortlisted five titles to represent France in the Best International Oscar race at the 99th Academy Awards
- The five films are Antonin Baudry's De Gaulle, Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur, Louis Clichy's Le Corset, Marine Atlan's La Gradiva, and Arthur Harari's L'Inconnue
- Minotaur won the Grand Prix at Cannes, is a French-German-Latvian co-production, and was also included in Germany's Oscar longlist
- Le Corset is an animated drama that won the Special Jury Prize in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section; La Gradiva won the main prize at Cannes Critics' Week and marks Atlan's directorial debut
- L'Inconnue stars Léa Seydoux and Niels Schneider in a body-swap story adapted from Harari's graphic novel The Case of David Zimmerman
- De Gaulle features Simon Abkarian as the WWII general, with Benoît Magimel, Mathieu Kassovitz, Niels Schneider, Karim Leklou, and Anamaria Vartolomei in the ensemble
- The French selection committee will finalize its submission following a consultation period beginning September 16
Why it matters: Four of the five shortlisted titles already carry Cannes prizes, including a Grand Prix winner (Minotaur) that is also competing for Germany — meaning the committee's September 16 deliberation will weigh not just festival pedigree but which film gives France the strongest standalone case in an increasingly crowded international Oscar field that now includes submissions from Israel, South Korea, Romania, and Chile.
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