Linklater’s ‘Nouvelle Vague’: France’s Potential Oscar Win for Best International Film in Three Decades?

After many misfires and successive rejigging of its committee, France came close to winning its first Oscar for best international feature in over three decades with Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez.”

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But “Emilia Perez’s” chances of winning the statuette evaporated after the scandal surrounding Karla Sofia Gascon’s offensive tweets.

Ultimately, nothing could stop Brazil from winning Walter Salles’ heartfelt family saga “I’m Still Here.”

France’s lack of winning has often been blamed, among other things, on the abundance of French films to choose from, hence the large margin of error. And it appears that France will once again face an embarrassment of riches and some heated discussions within its selection board.

No films have been submitted yet for consideration, but the most probable frontrunner is Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater’s homage to Jean-Luc Godard’s cult 1960 movie “Breathless” which was acquired by Netflix at Cannes.

It is followed by Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Vie Privée” starring Jodie Foster and bought by Sony Pictures Classics. Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winning “It Was Just an Accident,” acquired by Neon, will also probably be in the mix as it was mainly produced in France.

“Nouvelle Vague” didn’t win a prize at Cannes but it earned standing ovation, enthusiastic response from festivalgoers — including Tarantino who was visibly moved by the film — and unanimous praise by critics, especially American ones.

In a similar way as Michel Hazanavacius’ black-and-while The Artist was seen as a French love letter to Hollywood and struck a chord in the U.S. where it won an impressive five Oscars, Nouvelle Vague is an American director’s love letter to French cinema. “Nouvelle Vague” is homage to the New Wave era which spanned the late 1950s and 1960s with helmers such as Godard, Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Chabrol and Agnes Varda.

Nouvelle Vague is eligible to be selected by France’s Oscar committee since it was shot mostly in French: AMPAS rules for international feature films to have a “predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track.”

Linklater’s American nationality doesn’t matter because the film was backed by local artistic and production team. According to AMPAS guidelines, the “creative control of the film” has to be “largely in the hands of citizens, residents, or individuals with refugee or asylum status in the submitting country.”

Nouvelle Vague was produced by Laurent Pétin at Michèle Halberstadt at Paris-based ARP Selection, while Halberstadt and Laetitia Masson are also credited as co-screenwriters (for the adaptation), alongside Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo Jr. The cast is also mostly French with the exception of Zoey Deutch, who stars as New Wave darling Jean Seberg.

Nouvelle Vague has October 10 release date, which is past the Sept. 30 deadline that AMPAS has set for local theatrical releases.

But ARP Selection, which is also a prominent distribution company in France, could work things out by either moving the launch date or doing a qualifying release before Sept. 30. It remains to be seen how much campaigning efforts and resources Netflix will be willing to dedicate after splurging — in vain — for “Emilia Perez,” and whether the streamer will position “Nouvelle Vague” in main categories such as best picture, director and actress for Deutch.

It would be interesting to see an American filmmaker score France’s first international feature film Oscar after more than 30 years; the last one dates back to 1993 with Regis Wargnier’s Indochine, for which star Catherin Deneuve earned Best Actress nomination.

Oscars 2025: Linklater’s ‘Nouvelle Vague’: France’s First Oscar for Best International Film in Three Decades?

Linklater’s ‘Nouvelle Vague’: France’s Potential Oscar Win for Best International Film in Three Decades?

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