Tran Anh Hung’s The Taste of Things has failed to secure an Oscar nomination, provoking some in the French film community who have their culottes all in a twist over their country’s selection process for the competition.
The French nominating committee snubbed Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, which went on to secure nominations for best picture, best director, best actress, best original screenplay and best film editing.
It has been suggested by some observers that Triet’s work was blackballed because the outspoken director had earned the ire of French cultural minister Rima Abdul Marak in a fervid speech at Cannes. Triet was highly critical of the “neo-liberal government” was “breaking down the French model” of cultural expression. It has also been pointed out that her film had large segments in English and German whereas The Taste of Things was entirely in French.
Despite its failure to be endorsed by French officials, Anatomy of a Fall went on to become a hit on the fall festival circuit, notably at showings in Telluride, Toronto, and New York.
Addressing the controversy, Hung was quoted in Premiere magazine as saying, “No one questioned the Cannes festival jury’s decision to award the Palme d’Or to Justine Triet’s film, and that’s perfectly normal. Why, today, should we question the decision of the committee that appoints the French representative at the Oscars? I don’t understand this violence.”
Dominique Boutonnat, the president of the French film board known as the CNC, defended Triet’s work in a posting on X (formerly Twitter): “Congratulations on their nominations to the team behind Anatomy of a Fall, especially to its director and screenwriter Justine Triet. This film, supported by the CNC’s Advance on Receipts, is a symbol of the success – both public and critical – of our films internationally in 2023.”
France has not won an international feature Oscar since 1993, when Régis Wargnier’s Indochine won the statuette. As a result of the above contretemps, there are moves underway to revise the selection process, which is overseen by the nation’s culture ministry. It’s being suggested that the nominating committee needs to be expanded to include more diverse voices.