France Selects ‘The Taste of Things’ for Oscars’ International Feature Film Race

In a surprising twist of events, France’s Oscar committee has chosen the culinary romance “The Taste of Things” over “Anatomy of a Fall,” Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winning film, to represent the country in the international feature film race.

“The Taste of Things” (previously titled “The Pot-au-Feu”) won best director at Cannes for French-Vietnamese filmmaker Trần Anh Hùng. Starring Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel, the period movie was bought by IFC Films and Sapan Studios.

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“Anatomy of a Fall,” meanwhile, was acquired by Neon, the Oscar-maker behind “Parasite,” at Cannes. The movie has been thriving at the French box office with approximately 8 million euros grossed from nearly 1 million admissions. It’s one of the biggest B.O. scores for a Palme d’Or winning film in France in years.

Neon will release “Anatomy of a Fall” in the U.S. on Oct. 13 and is still committed to giving it a full Oscar push. It’s expected to campaign for it in multiple categories, including best picture, actress, director and screenplay.

The film’s star, Sandra Huller, who has a supporting actress worthy role in the United Kingdom’s submission “The Zone of Interest,” is one of the top contenders in best actress. In “Anatomy of a Fall,” she plays a successful German novelist on trial for the murder of her husband (Samuel Theis). A feminist movie, “Anatomy of a Fall” explores the perspective of a woman who struggles to achieve a balance between her work, marriage and parenting duties.

“The Taste of Things” is a French period movie set in 1885. It follows the life of Dodin Bouffant (Magimel) as a preeminent chef who has been living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie (Binoche) for over two decades. Growing fonder of one another, their bond turns into a romance and gives rise to delicious dishes that impress even the world’s most illustrious chefs. When Eugénie appears reluctant to marry Dodin, he decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her. The movie was co-produced by Gaumont which sold it in international markets.

Other films that were pre-selected by the French committee included Clement Cogitore’s “Sons of Ramses;” Thomas Cailley’s supernatural coming-of-age drama “The Animal Kingdom”; and Denis Imbert’s “On The Wandering Paths.” “The Animal Kingdom” was bought by Magnolia’s Magnet.

This year’s selection committee included producers Charles Gillibert (“Annette”), former Lionsgate boss Patrick Wachsberger and Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat, as well as directors Olivier Assayas (“Carlos”) and Mounia Meddour (“Papicha”), and sales agents Sabine Chemaly and Tanja Meissner. France’s National Film Board president Dominique Boutonnat and Unifrance’s president Gilles Pelisson sat on the committee but didn’t actively take part in the vote.

France hasn’t won an Oscar for best international film since Régis Wargnier’s “Indochine” in 1993 (it was then called best foreign-language film). Last year’s French entry, Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer,” which had won the Silver Lion and Lion of the Future at Venice, failed to get nominated after making it on the long list. The last nomination for France in the international feature film category dates back to Ladj Ly’s police brutality thriller “Les Misérables” in 2019.

News of “Anatomy of a Fall” being snubbed by France’s Oscar committee has sparked vivid reactions across social media, with many people predicting the country will once again fail to even get on the shortlist. The roster of movies that were discarded by the French Oscar committee in the last decade include Audrey Diwan’s timely abortion drama “Happening” and Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.”

Several French insiders have also flagged that Triet is possibly being “punished” for calling out the French government in her fiery political speech at Cannes. Some powerful industry figures have been reluctant to embrace the film’s critical laurels and commercial success. “The Taste of Things,” meanwhile, hasn’t yet been released in theaters. Gaumont will distribute the movie in France on Nov. 8.

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