Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” to Represent France at the Oscars

In the category of “Best International Film” for the Oscars, France could only choose one candidate: it will be “Emilia Perez”, the musical masterpiece by Jacques Audiard. While the 97th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2, 2025 in Los Angeles (United States), the “Oscars Commission” met at the National Center of Cinema (CNC) this Wednesday, September 18.

She therefore preferred Audiard’s film to its three competitors, which she had pre-selected last Wednesday: the blockbuster “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière, which has accumulated more than 8 million admissions, “Miséricorde” by Alain Guiraudie, a rural thriller with Félix Kysyl, Catherine Frot and Jean-Baptiste Durand, and “All We Imagine As Light”, the first film by Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, which tells the story of three women in India. The latter notably received the Grand Prix at the last Cannes Film Festival.

Last year, the commission’s choice caused controversy.

“Emilia Perez” won two awards on the Croisette in May: the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Award for Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz. Jacques Audiard’s tenth film after “A Prophet”, “Rust and Bone”, “The Sisters Brothers” and “The Olympics”, this feature film features Rita, a gifted Mexican lawyer, forced to collaborate with a cartel leader who wants to become a woman and change his life…

Last year, France presented “The Passion of Dodin Bouffant” by Trần Anh Hùng in the “best international film” category for the Oscars. This pointed choice – a historical drama with Benoît Magimel and Juliette Binoche, which tells the story of a love affair and gastronomy, had only registered 230,000 admissions – had created controversy. Many film professionals regretted that the commission had not preferred “Anatomy of a Fall” by Justine Triet, Palme d’Or and public success with 1.9 million admissions. This did not prevent Triet’s film from receiving the Oscar for best original screenplay on March 11.

The committee responsible for designating the feature film representing France in the category of “best international film” is chaired by Charles Tesson, critic and film historian, former general delegate of the Critics’ Week in Cannes. It includes ten other members, including director Audrey Diwan, actress Clémence Poésy and director and writer Florian Zeller.