Oscars: France Selects ‘Memoir Of War’ For Foreign Language Submission

France has selected Emmanuel Finkiel’s Memoir of War as its official selection for the Oscars’ Foreign Language film race. The pic, which Finkiel adapted from Marguerite Duras’ semi-autobiographical 1944 novel set in Nazi-occupied Paris, stars Mélanie Thierry in a story of love, loss, and perseverance against the backdrop of war.

Music Box Films holds U.S. rights to Memoir of War and released it in theaters last month.

The film came out on top on a shortlist that included Gaspar Noé’s Cannes buzz title Climax, the late Claude Lanzmann’s Les Quatre Sœurs, Mademoiselle De Joncquières by Emmanuel Mouret, and Xavier Legrand’s Jusqu’à La Garde. The choice was finalized today by France’s National Film Center (CNC), which said the film, known in France as La Douleur (The Pain), has seen 350,00 submissions in French theaters.

The plot centers on Duras (Thierry) who is is an active Resistance member along with her husband, writer Robert Antelme, and a band of fellow subversives in Nazi-occupied Paris. When Antelme is deported to Dachau by the Gestapo, she becomes friendly with French collaborator Rabier (Benoît Magimel) to gain information at considerable risk to her underground cell. But as the months wear on without news of her husband, she must begin the process of confronting the unimaginable.

Check out the trailer above.

Duras’ novel (The War: A Memoir) was translated and released in more than 20 countries; she wrote more than 30 novels in her career and directed 19 films. She earned an Oscar nomination in 1961 for her original screenplay for Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima, Mon Amour.

France most recently earned an Oscar nomination in the foreign language category in 2015 for Mustang; it last won in 1993 with Indochine starring Catherine Deneuve.

Here’s the full list of submissions so far:

2019 Foreign Language Film Oscar Submissions

Algeria – Until The End Of Time – Yasmine Chouikh
Austria – The Waldheim Waltz – Ruth Beckermann
Belarus – Crystal Swan – Darya Zhuk
Belgium – Girl – Lukas Dhont
Bolivia – Muralla – Rodrigo Patiño
Bosnia – Never Leave Me – Aida Begic
Brazil – The Great Mystical Circus – Carlos Diegues
Bulgaria – Omnipresent – Ilian Djevelekov
Cambodia – Graves Without A Name – Rithy Pan
Canada – Watch Dog – Sophie Dupuis
Chile – And Suddenly The Dawn – Silvio Caiozzi
Colombia– Birds of Passage, Cristina Gallego & Ciro Guerra
Croatia – The Eighth Commissioner – Ivan Salaj
Czech Republic – Winter Flies – Olmo Omerzu
Denmark – The Guilty – Gustav Möller
Dominican Republic – Cocote – Nelson Carlo de los Santos
Ecuador – A Son Of Man – Jamaicanoproblem and Pablo Agüero
Egypt – Yomeddine – Abu Bakr Shawky
Estonia – Take It Or Leave It – Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo
Finland – Euthanizer – Teemu Nikin
France – Memoir Of War – Emmanuel Finkiel
Georgia – Namme – Zaza Khalvashi
Germany – Never Look Away – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Greece – Polyxeni – Dora Masklavanou
Indonesia – Marlina The Murderer In Four Acts – Mouly Surya
Iraq – The Journey – Mohamed Al-Daradji
Iran – No Date, No Signature – Vahid Jalilvand
Israel – The Cakemaker – Ofir Raul Grazier
Japan – Shoplifters – Hirokazu Kore-eda
Kosovo – The Marriage – Blerta Zeqiri
Latvia – To Be Continued – Ivars Seleckis
Lebanon – Capernaum – Nadine Labaki
Lithuania – Wonderful Losers: A Different World – Arunas Matelis
Luxembourg – Gutland – Govinda Van Maele
Macedonia: Secret Ingredient – Gjorce Stavreski
Mexico – Roma – Alfonso Cuarón
Morocco – Burnout – Nour Eddine Lakhmari
Netherlands – The Resistance Banker – Joram Lürsen
Norway – What Will People Say – Iram Haq
Palestine – Ghost Hunting – Raed Andoni
Pakistan – Cake – Asim Abbasi
Panama – Ruben Blades Is Not My Name – Abner Benaim
Peru – Eternity – Oscar Catacora
Portugal – Peregrinação – João Botelho
Romania – I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians – Radu Jude
Serbia – Offenders – Dejan Zecevic
Singapore – Buffalo Boys – Mike Wiluan
Slovakia – The Interpreter – Martin Sulik
Slovenia – Ivan – Janez Burger
South Korea – Burning – Lee Chang-dong
Spain – Champions – Javier Fesser
Sweden – Border – Ali Abbasi
Switzerland – Eldorado – Markus Imhoof
Taiwan – The Grerat Buddha+ – Huang Hsin-Yao
Thailand – Malila: The Farewell Flower – Anucha Boonyawatana
Tunisia – Beauty And The Dogs – Kaouther Ben Hania
Turkey – The Wild Pear Tree – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Ukraine – Donbass – Sergei Loznitsa
UK – I Am Not A Witch – Rungano Nyoni
Venezuela – The Family – Gustavo Rondon Cordova