Sandra Hüller: “It is not a decision of France, but of 5 people”

The numerous awards won by Anatomy of a Fall continue to fuel the controversy over its non-selection to represent France at the Oscars.

The harvest of trophiesAnatomy of a fall continued this weekend. The film of Justine Triet had already been crowned best international film at the Gotham Awards (where it also won best screenplay), at the New York Film Critics Awards, at the British Film Independent Awards and by the National Board Review. And she has just won three new awards at the Los Angeles Film Critics Awards: best actress for Sandra Hüller (also for La Zone d’Interêt), best foreign film and, less expected, best editing for Laurent Sénéchal. And that’s not all.

At the same time, the European Film Awards were held in Berlin, where the 2023 Palme d’Or simply crushed the competition by winning in six categories, including the most major: best film, best director, best screenplay and best actress. A raid which maintains the debate around the non-selection of Anatomy of a Fall to represent France at the Oscars. It is The Passion of Dodin Bouffantof Trân Anh Hùngwhich was chosen.

When they were asked the question on the stage of the European Film Awards, Sandra Hüller answered in place of Justine Triet, who seemed to be going to kick in, with a certain annoyance: “This is not a decision of France, but a decision of the 5 people (in reality 7, Editor’s note) present in this committee. I respect these few people, but when you see the number of people who went to see the film in France…”

“We are very happy, the film touched the audience and surpassed all that, somehow it is magnificent. It’s no longer my object, it’s beyond us“, then declared the director, more measured. She had taken the decision of the committee made up in particular by Olivier Assayas, Mounia Meddour and Alexandre Desplat very badly. But today she is savoring this shower of rewards and the prospect of being nominated despite everything at the Oscars.

According to the Hollywood press, Anatomy of a fall could be nominated in several categories, including best actress and best original screenplay. We will know on December 21 if The Passion of Dodin Bouffant is at least in the shortlist for the Oscar for best international film, generally made up of around fifteen films.

On social networks, this decision caused a lot of reaction from Internet users, but also from journalists and cinema professionals. “Maybe Ridley Scott is right, the French don’t love themselves‘, quips the international manager at Variety. Director Jean-Paul Salomé was also publicly surprised by the situation on his Twitter account: “What happens to #AnatomyDuneFall hasn’t happened in years (decades?) in a French film. But it will not be able to compete for the Oscar for best foreign film since it was rejected by… France. “