“Titane”, “Bac Nord” or “L’Evénement”: one of these three films will represent France at the Oscars

Which of these three films will be chosen to represent France at the Oscars ceremony in 2022? Golden Palm Titanium, the Golden Lion The event Where North Bac ? The choice between these three films must be made by November 1, the deadline for transmission to the Academy of Oscars, and after a hearing session by a specialized committee on October 12, announced the CNC on Thursday. Two directors and a director are in the running.

“Titanium” by Julia Ducournau

The first is Julia Ducournau, 37, who won the Palme d’Or in July in Cannes with Titanium, genre film forbidden to under 16s, mixing woman / machine hybridization, love for cars and quest for paternity. It features a newcomer, Agathe Rousselle, and French actor Vincent Lindon, as a firefighter on a steroid.

Audrey Diwan’s “The Event”

The other director is Audrey Diwan, 41, who adapted Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical account of illegal abortion in the early 1960s, The Event, with there also a new talent on the screen: Anamaria Vartolomei. The film won the Golden Lion in Venice in September.

“Bac Nord” by Cédric Jimenez

The third film in the running, North Bac, is signed Cédric Jimenez, and plunges into a case that has wavered the Marseille police, resolutely adopting the point of view of officials. Carried by the trio of actors Gilles Lellouche, Karim Leklou and François Civil, the film sparked an intense debate on the representation of the northern districts of Marseille and more broadly popular areas on the screen, which also took hold of politicians, right and far right.

The film is one of the rare big French successes in theaters in this year still jostled by the Covid-19, approaching two million admissions in seven weeks.

The commission that chooses the candidate film to represent France at the 94th Academy Awards, on March 27, 2022 in Los Angeles, brings together, under the aegis of the National Center for Cinematography (CNC), several professionals including directors Julie Delpy and Florian Zeller. Last year the film Of them by Filippo Meneghetti had been presented by France but had not passed the bar of preselections by the Academy of Oscars.