Minotaure will represent France at the 2027 Oscars

The film by Russian filmmaker Andreï Zviaguintsev, awarded at Cannes, was officially chosen to represent France at the Oscar for best international film.

There were only five left in the running.

The Battle of De Gaulle – The Iron Age by Antonin Baudry, The Corset by Louis Clichy, La Gradiva by Marine Atlan and The Unknown by Arthur Harari were ultimately not selected to represent France at the 2027 Oscars.

The commission (chaired by film historian Charles Tesson) chose Minotaur by Andrei Zvyagintsev. The Russian filmmaker will therefore represent France during the 99th Oscars ceremony, which will be held on March 14, 2027 in Los Angeles. Because Minotaur was produced by Charles Gillibert (CG Cinéma) and Nathanaël Karmitz (MK Productions), with the support of Aid to World Cinema from the CNC. Note that the film is also co-produced with Germany.

“I warmly congratulate Andreï Zviaguintsev, his producers Charles Gillibert and Nathanaël Karmitz, as well as all the French teams who made this film possible, which has already conquered the Cannes Film Festival.” comments Gaëtan Bruel, president of the CNC. He believes that this choice recalls “the unique role of France in major global co-productions” And “the commitment of our country alongside the most committed filmmakers of our time“.

It should be emphasized that Minotaur won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival last May.

His story takes us into contemporary Russia, at the start of the war in Ukraine. In 2022, a wealthy provincial business leader discovers his wife’s adultery and finds himself faced with a state-imposed obligation to provide fourteen of his employees for the Ukrainian front. The film is an adaptation of The Unfaithful Wifeby Claude Chabrol (1969), a psychological thriller that uses the myth of the Minotaur as a powerful metaphor for the Russian regime devouring its own population.

Minotaur will be released in French theaters on October 14, distributed by Les Films du Losange, and will be distributed in the United States by Mubi.

He will now have to make his way among the other international candidates: Suddenly by Ryūsuke Hamaguchi for Japan, The Black Bola for Spain, Coward by Lukas Dhont for Belgium or even Everytime by Sandra Wollner for Germany were selected by their respective countries.

France has not won the Oscar for best international film since 1993, the year ofIndochina by Régis Wargnier.

“It all starts now”warns the CNC, which claims to want to ensure that France “shines again this year in this great event of international cinema”. And Gaëtan Bruel concludes: “The goal is to win!”

However, two more steps will have to be taken before we can talk about a statuette: Minotaur must first appear in the shortlist of 15 international films, which will be revealed by the American Academy on December 15, 2026, before the final five nominees for the Oscar for best international film are announced on January 21, 2027.