France unveils 2026 shortlist for best international feature Oscar

Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning It Was Just An Accident, Rebecca Zlotowski’s A Private Life, Hafsia Herzi’s Cannes best actress-winning The Little Sister, and Ugo Bienvenu’s 2D animation Arco have made the shortlist for France’s international feature film Oscar submission at the 98th Academy Awards in 2026.

The films were selected by a recently revamped 11-member selection committee appointed by France’s culture minister Rachida Dati per a recommendation from national film body CNC, which announced the selection on Wednesday evening after a day of deliberations (Sept. 10).

The committee – which this year remains anonymous – will reconvene on September 17 to meet with each film’s producers, international sales representatives and US distributors before announcing its final choice of submission as the country once again sets out to win its first award in the category since Regis Wargnier’s Indochine in 1993.

All of the decision-making committee are “qualified figures in the field of cinema and at least half artists or crew members” per the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, according to the CNC in a statement announcing the shortlisted titles. CNC also pointed out that it is not part of the decision-making process. 

The shortlist

Nouvelle Vague follows the production of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 film Breathless. Netflix will release in 25-30 markets before it begins streaming. It stars Guillaume Marbeck as Godard alongside Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg, and premiered at Cannes before arriving at TIFF, Telluride and NYFF. Nouvelle Vague would mark the first time in history that France has selected a film by an American director.

Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and was snapped up by Neon for US distribution. It is about a group of former political prisoners confronting the guard who they say once tortured them, and is a co-production between Iran’s Jafar Panahi Production and France’s Les Films du Pelléas.

Rebecca Zlotowski’s A Private Life premiered at Cannes and stars Jodie Foster in a French-language role playing a renowned psychiatrist who sets out to investigate the possible murder of one of her patients. Sony Pictures Classics has announced an awards-qualifying run. 

The Little Sister, Herzi’s third feature, is a coming-of-age story about a French-Algerian teenager exploring her sexuality while navigating her Muslim faith. It earned its star Nadia Melliti the best actress award in Cannes and took home the Queer Palm and will next premiere in Toronto this week. Strand Releasing is handling US distribution.

Ugo Bienvenu’s 2D animation Arco premiered in Cannes out of competition before heading to Annecy and is about a boy in a rainbow suit who travels through time and gets stuck in the wrong era. Natalie Portman has joined the film’s English voice cast under her banner MountainA, alongside company co-founder Sophie Mas and Paris-based Remembers’ Félix de Givry. Neon is also handling North American distribution.

Last year, France submitted Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez to the international feature category – an unconventional choice that, while directed by a French filmmaker, featured an international cast and Spanish and English-language dialogue.

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