The director of Cannes was excluded from the French Oscar committee
The main members of the French cinema Oscar committee, which decide on the country’s representative film for the Oscars, were excluded.
Charso Press: As part of this revision, the permanent members of the French Cinema Oscar Committee, including Cannes Film Festival Director Thierry Fermo, César Academy President Véronique Cailla and Unifrance President Serge Tobian, will no longer be members of this committee and thus have no role in the selection process. French cinema will not be represented at the Oscars.
This order was issued by Rima Abdul Malik, who was recently elected as the Minister of Culture of France, and its details were published in “Officiel” magazine.
The decision to reform France’s Oscar committee stems from criticism of sending films to the Oscars that often premiered at Cannes, but didn’t necessarily have the best chance of going to the Oscars and ultimately winning a nomination at the awards.
Last year, in a controversial decision, the Palme d’Or-winning movie Titan by Julia Ducourneau went to the Oscars as a representative of French cinema, and the drama Itfaq by Audrey Divan, which won the Golden Lion in Venice, was left out, and this issue has raised concerns. about the possible conflict of interest.
As a result, from now on, the members of the French Cinema Oscar committee will be nominated by the Minister of Culture every year and will include two film distributors, two producers, two filmmakers and one figure from the cinema industry. The presidents of the National Film Commission (CNC) and Unifranc can also participate in the committee meetings as observers.
France last won the best film award in 1993 with the film “Indo China” by Regis Varnier.
After Italy, French cinema ranks second among the most honored countries in the field of international Oscars.