What happened on September 21 at the National Cinema Center (CNC)? What should have been just a formality – sending the Palme d’Or to the Oscars Anatomy of a fall – turned into a fiasco. The film chosen by the CNC to represent France in the best foreign film category, The Passion of Dodin Bouffant, was ultimately not selected by the American Academy while that of Justine Triet is in the running in five categories and has already won the European Cinema Prize, two Golden Globes and three Lumière prizes.
After a first round, on September 14, the seven members of the commission, designated by the CNC, the producers Charles Gillibert and Patrick Wachsberger (the latter was by video), the filmmakers Olivier Assayas and Mounia Meddour, the exporters Sabine Chemaly and Tanja Meissner and composer Alexandre Desplats meet on September 21 for a second vote. Dominique Boutonnat (president of the CNC) and Gilles Pélisson (president of Unifrance, the organization responsible for promoting French cinema abroad) are also present but as simple “observers”.
That morning, Charles Gillibert, Patrick Wachsberger and Olivier Assayas were amazed. They voted for Justine Triet’s film, but it was ultimately The Passion of Dodin Bouffant, by Tran Anh Hung, who wins by one vote. Charles Gillibert, producer of Mustang who represented France at the Oscars in 2016, and a fine expert on the American market tries to understand the choice of others. “There was no debate. On the other hand, no one tried to convince me. » Olivier Assayas battle too, step by step, in favor ofAnatomy of a fall : “I personally experienced it very badly. And I immediately made it known to the CNC officials who were there. » While specifying: “I am sorry that the film by Tran Anh Hung, who is a filmmaker that I respect and for whom I have friendship, was disrupted, in a quarrel that was not his. »
Audiard, Philibert and Sciamma not selected
The other four members who chose The Passion of Dodin Bouffant would have been convinced by the “French side” of the film, a gastronomic costume romance whose English title was almost Pot au feu. This strategy of eternal France, and its meat-wine-cheese trinity, was dictated by a “outdated vision” of the American market, regretted the magazine Variety in one of his numerous articles devoted to “dysfunctional committee” of the CNC, which describes French cinema as a “small village where a few talent agents and studios pull all the strings”.
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