France Selects ‘Renoir’ for Oscars

Gilles Bourdos's film Renoir, is set to represent France in the Oscar's foreign language race.

However, the road to Hollywood is far from being mapped out for the film. Each year, the Academy Awards selects only five films in the best foreign film category, from the 60-70 submitted by different countries. The Academy will announce the short-list January 14, 2014.

Last year, The Intouchables by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache was chosen to represent France. It was one of the nine movies still in the race in December, but ended up being rejected in the final pre-selection. Régis Wargnier's Indochine (1993), starring Catherine Deneuve, is the last French film to win the Oscar in this category.

France wanted to initially send to the Oscars Blue is the Warmest Color, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year. But, according to the criteria of the Academy Awards, every film must be released between October 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013. A rule that prevented Abdellatif Kechiche's film to be selected to represent France. The movie will only be released on October 9.

Renoir, a period drama is one of this year’s highest-grossing French films at the U.S. box office so far, taking an estimated $2.2 million.

Click here to find showtimes in the United States for Renoir.

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