Anatomy of a Fail: Inside France’s Dysfunctional Oscar Committee

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Marie-Ange Luciani, who produced Justine Triet‘s Oscar-nominated film “Anatomy of a Fall,” won the Toscan du Plantier Award at a Paris ceremony hosted by the Cesar Academie on Monday. Celebrating the year’s best producer, the Toscan du Plantier prize is voted on by 1,717 members, including artists and crew members who were previously nominated at the Cesar Awards, along with the governing body members of the Cesar Academie. Luciani most recently produced “Anatomy of a Fall” with David Thion.

Alex Ritman “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” the Viggo Mortensen-directed Western in which the three-time Oscar nominee stars alongside Vicky Krieps, has landed a number of international sales for HanWay Films. Newly confirmed territory deals for the film — a Talipot Studio, Recorded Picture and Perceval Pictures production — include France (Metropolitan), Spain (Wanda & Elastica), Scandinavia (Scanbox), U.K. (Signature), Benelux (Imagine), Poland (Galapagos), Middle East (Front Row), Singapore (Shaw) and Airlines/Ships (Cinesky).

It’s a weekend of well-reviewed indie openings with Bleecker Street’s Out Of Darkness, The Monk And The Gun (from the directors of Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom) and limited openings for The Taste Of Things, Perfect Days (Best International Feature nominated), Anthony Chen’s Drift, Bas Devos’ Here and Ennio by Giuseppe Tornatore, which premiered in Venice in 2021 and is finally getting a U.S. release.

Thomas Cailley’s fantasy drama The Animal Kingdom topped the nominations for France’s César Awards, which were announced in Paris on Wednesday.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Thomas Cailley’s supernatural drama “The Animal Kingdom” and Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winning “Anatomy of a Fall” are leading the race at the 49th Cesar Awards with 12 and 11 nominations, respectively. Triet’s movie, which just garnered an impressive five Oscar nominations, and “The Animal Kingdom,” which opened at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and won a prize, will vie for for top Cesar awards, including best director and film.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After keeping a fairly low profile as president of France’s leading commercial network TF1 Group for seven years, Gilles Pelisson, the discreet Harvard-educated executive, is ready for showtime. He has been propelled into the spotlight to promote French film and TV in his new role as president of Unifrance, succeeding Serge Toubiana last summer.

The Academy has confirmed to Deadline that this is the first time two international foreign-language movies have been nominated for Best Picture in the same year and the first time that two foreign-language movies have received five Oscar nominations apiece in the same year.

Three female directors saw their movies nab Best Picture Nominations this year — the first time that’s ever occurred in Oscar’s 96-year history: Celine Song with Past Lives, Great Gerwig with Barbie and Justine Triet with Anatomy of a Fall.

Ben Croll French film promotional organization Unifrance put talent in the spotlight at this year’s Rendez-Vous in Paris, where the 10 actors and filmmakers selected as 2024’s Talents to Watch were fêted with flutes of champagne at France’s Ministry of Culture before being introduced to the international press at a dedicated event. For more than a decade, the 10 to Watch program has pinpointed the creative talents breathing modernity and vitality into contemporary French cinema.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Women filmmakers hit a milestone with this year’s 2024 Oscar nominations. For the first time in history, three of the 10 movies nominated for best picture — Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall,” Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Celine Song’s “Past Lives” — were directed by a female auteur, the most recognized in the Academy Awards’ 96-year history. The other best picture nominees are: “American Fiction,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “Oppehneimer,” “The Holdovers,” “Poor Things,” and “The Zone of Interest.” Before this year’s best picture nominees, 591 movies were nominated by the Academy.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Justine Triet‘s Palme d’Or winning “Anatomy of a Fall” picked up top accolades at the 29th Lumiere Awards, France’s equivalent to the Golden Globes, at a ceremony held Monday at the Forum des Images in Paris. While Triet lost the best director nod to Thomas Cailley for his supernatural family drama “The Animal Kingdom,” “Anatomy of a Fall” won best film, actress for Sandra Huller, and screenplay for Triet and Arthur Harari.

Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall continued its prize-winning run on Monday at France’s 29th Lumière Awards clinching Best Film and Best Screenplay, while its German star Sandra Hüller won Best Actress.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired international rights to Lenny and Harpo Guit’s new feature “Heads or Fails,” the duo’s follow-up to Sundance comedy “Mother Schmuckers.” Now in post, “Heads or Fails” tells the story of Armande Pigeon, a queen of shenanigans in Brussels who struggles to make ends meet because she can’t stop gambling on everything, always ending up on the wrong side of luck. When she teams up with Ronnie one night, everything changes – they win it all.

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Former TF1 Group CEO and chairman Gilles Pélisson has gone through a baptism of fire this week in his new role of president at French film and TV promotional body Unifrance as he attends his first edition of its annual Paris Rendez-vous.

Justine Triet’s Cannes Palme d’Or Anatomy Of A Fall continued its buzzy awards season career on Thursday as it clocked up seven BAFTA nominations, including best director and film.The drama was also nominated for best original screenplay, film not in the English language, actress for Sandra Hüller, casting and editing.

The move in recent years to make the Oscars a truly global event in terms of the membership drive by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has paid off particularly well this year: Eligible voters from a record 93 countries submitting ballots in the Academy Awards’ nominating round, which ended Tuesday at 5 p.m. PT.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jean-Claude Van Damme, the global martial artist turned action hero whose 2021 movie “The Last Mercenary” was a hit on Netflix, has another film on the horizon. He will star opposite Michaël Youn (“BDE”) in “Le jardinier,” another high-voltage action-comedy reuniting him with “The Last Mercenary” director David Charhon.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent After dropping on Netflix on Jan. 4 to the U.S. streaming giant’s second-biggest bow ever for a non-English language movie in hours watched, Spaniard J.A.

Cinema export agency Unifrance’s annual international box office report for 2023 revealed on Tuesday that Russia was the top market in terms of admissions for French cinema last year.