Oscars: France Selects ‘Memoir Of War’ For Foreign Language Submission

Patrick Hipes
Updated

France has selected Emmanuel Finkiel’s Memoir of War as its official selection for the Oscars’ Foreign Language film race. The pic, which Finkiel adapted from Marguerite Duras’ semi-autobiographical 1944 novel set in Nazi-occupied Paris, stars Mélanie Thierry in a story of love, loss, and perseverance against the backdrop of war.

Music Box Films holds U.S. rights to Memoir of War and released it in theaters last month.

The film came out on top on a shortlist that included Gaspar Noé’s Cannes buzz title Climax, the late Claude Lanzmann’s Les Quatre Sœurs, Mademoiselle De Joncquières by Emmanuel Mouret, and Xavier Legrand’s Jusqu’à La Garde. The choice was finalized today by France’s National Film Center (CNC), which said the film, known in France as La Douleur (The Pain), has seen 350,00 submissions in French theaters.

The plot centers on Duras (Thierry) who is is an active Resistance member along with her husband, writer Robert Antelme, and a band of fellow subversives in Nazi-occupied Paris. When Antelme is deported to Dachau by the Gestapo, she becomes friendly with French collaborator Rabier (Benoît Magimel) to gain information at considerable risk to her underground cell. But as the months wear on without news of her husband, she must begin the process of confronting the unimaginable.

Check out the trailer above.

Duras’ novel (The War: A Memoir) was translated and released in more than 20 countries; she wrote more than 30 novels in her career and directed 19 films. She earned an Oscar nomination in 1961 for her original screenplay for Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima, Mon Amour.

France most recently earned an Oscar nomination in the foreign language category in 2015 for Mustang; it last won in 1993 with Indochine starring Catherine Deneuve.

Here’s the full list of submissions so far:

2019 Foreign Language Film Oscar Submissions

  • Algeria – Until The End Of Time – Yasmine Chouikh

  • Austria – The Waldheim Waltz – Ruth Beckermann

  • Belarus – Crystal Swan – Darya Zhuk

  • Belgium – Girl – Lukas Dhont

  • Bolivia – Muralla – Rodrigo Patiño

  • Bosnia – Never Leave Me – Aida Begic

  • Brazil – The Great Mystical Circus – Carlos Diegues

  • Bulgaria – Omnipresent – Ilian Djevelekov

  • Cambodia – Graves Without A Name – Rithy Pan

  • Canada – Watch Dog – Sophie Dupuis

  • Chile – And Suddenly The Dawn – Silvio Caiozzi

  • Colombia– Birds of Passage, Cristina Gallego & Ciro Guerra

  • Croatia – The Eighth Commissioner – Ivan Salaj

  • Czech Republic – Winter Flies – Olmo Omerzu

  • Denmark – The Guilty – Gustav Möller

  • Dominican Republic – Cocote – Nelson Carlo de los Santos

  • Ecuador – A Son Of Man – Jamaicanoproblem and Pablo Agüero

  • Egypt – Yomeddine – Abu Bakr Shawky

  • Estonia – Take It Or Leave It – Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo

  • Finland – Euthanizer – Teemu Nikin

  • France – Memoir Of War – Emmanuel Finkiel

  • Georgia – Namme – Zaza Khalvashi

  • Germany – Never Look Away – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

  • Greece – Polyxeni – Dora Masklavanou

  • Indonesia – Marlina The Murderer In Four Acts – Mouly Surya

  • Iraq – The Journey – Mohamed Al-Daradji

  • Iran – No Date, No Signature – Vahid Jalilvand

  • Israel – The Cakemaker – Ofir Raul Grazier

  • Japan – Shoplifters – Hirokazu Kore-eda

  • Kosovo – The Marriage – Blerta Zeqiri

  • Latvia – To Be Continued – Ivars Seleckis

  • Lebanon – Capernaum – Nadine Labaki

  • Lithuania – Wonderful Losers: A Different World – Arunas Matelis

  • Luxembourg – Gutland – Govinda Van Maele

  • Macedonia: Secret Ingredient – Gjorce Stavreski

  • Mexico – Roma – Alfonso Cuarón

  • Morocco – Burnout – Nour Eddine Lakhmari

  • Netherlands – The Resistance Banker – Joram Lürsen

  • Norway – What Will People Say – Iram Haq

  • Palestine – Ghost Hunting – Raed Andoni

  • Pakistan – Cake – Asim Abbasi

  • Panama – Ruben Blades Is Not My Name – Abner Benaim

  • Peru – Eternity – Oscar Catacora

  • Portugal – Peregrinação – João Botelho

  • Romania – I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians – Radu Jude

  • Serbia – Offenders – Dejan Zecevic

  • Singapore – Buffalo Boys – Mike Wiluan

  • Slovakia – The Interpreter – Martin Sulik

  • Slovenia – Ivan – Janez Burger

  • South Korea – Burning – Lee Chang-dong

  • Spain – Champions – Javier Fesser

  • Sweden – Border – Ali Abbasi

  • Switzerland – Eldorado – Markus Imhoof

  • Taiwan – The Grerat Buddha+ – Huang Hsin-Yao

  • Thailand – Malila: The Farewell Flower – Anucha Boonyawatana

  • Tunisia – Beauty And The Dogs – Kaouther Ben Hania

  • Turkey – The Wild Pear Tree – Nuri Bilge Ceylan

  • Ukraine – Donbass – Sergei Loznitsa

  • UK – I Am Not A Witch – Rungano Nyoni

  • Venezuela – The Family – Gustavo Rondon Cordova

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