Paris (AFP)
"Les Misérables" by Ladj Ly, a film about police violence in the suburbs, is France's candidate for the Oscar for best international film, the National Film Center (CNC) announced Friday.
Jury Prize at the last Cannes Film Festival, presented at the last Toronto Festival, "Les Miserables" tells the story of a police bust in a sensitive city of Seine-Saint-Denis, through the destiny of "Pento" (Damien Bonnard), a cop who arrives at the anti-crime brigade of Montfermeil and will find himself caught in a situation that exceeds him.
The first feature-length film by Ladj Ly, 39, "Les Miserables", will be released in France on November 20 and is already sold in more than fifty territories around the world. Amazon has acquired the rights for the United States.
The commission charged with nominating France's Oscar nominee had pre-selected three feature films at the beginning of the week: "Les Misérables", "Portrait of the girl on fire" by Céline Sciamma, a story of a forbidden romance between two women in an eighteenth century corsete, and "Proxima" Alice Winocour, with Eva Green as an astronaut.
The commission was composed this year of nine members: the producers Rosalie Varda and Jean Bréhat, the exporters Agathe Valentin and Muriel Sauzay, the directors Danièle Thompson and Pierre Salvadori, as well as three ex officio members, the general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival Thierry Frémaux , the president of the Cesar Academy Alain Terzian and the president of Unifrance Serge Toubiana.
The 92nd Academy Awards will take place on February 9, 2020 in Los Angeles.
The race is still long for the Oscar for best international film: the countries make their proposal, then the Academy of Oscars publishes a first list of films selected in December, before announcing in January the final list of the five nominated films.
France has not won the Oscar for best foreign film since 1993. She was then rewarded for "Indochina" by Régis Wargnier, with Catherine Deneuve.
The statuette was won at the last Oscars by "Roma" of Alfonso Cuaron.
© 2019 AFP