France Picks Cannes Winner Minotaur for Oscars International Race

France has picked Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur to carry its flag in the Oscars race for best international feature, the award for films made outside the United States largely in a language other than English, Variety reported on Sept. 16, 2026.

The choice was made on Wednesday, Sept. 16, after the selection committee heard pitches from the teams behind five shortlisted films. Producers, sales agents and U.S. distributors made the case for each title in auditions organised ahead of the vote, according to the same report.

The committee was presided over by Charles Tesson and draws 11 members from across French cinema, ScreenDaily reported. Its final meeting date of Sept. 16 had been set in advance by France's National Film Board, the CNC, CNC. The board is led by president Gaetan Bruel.

Minotaur arrives with Cannes weight behind it. The Russian-language drama won the Grand Prize, the festival's second-highest prize, Variety reported. Zvyagintsev is a Russian film-maker living in exile in France.

The film was produced by Charles Gillibert's CG Cinema and MK Productions. It is represented internationally by MK2 Films, while Mubi has acquired North America and several other territories, according to the report.

It beat four very different rivals. The shortlist included Antonin Baudry's two-part epic De Gaulle, Arthur Harari's The Unknown, Marine Atlan's La Gradiva and Louis Clichy's animated feature Iron Boy. France had revealed that five-film shortlist on Sept. 10, Variety reported.

For fans, this means a run of familiar dates to watch. The Academy will unveil its 15-film international shortlist on Dec. 15, with nominations to follow on Jan. 21. The 99th Academy Awards are set for March 14, 2027.

The stakes are plain. France submitted Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident last year. That film won the Palme d'Or, the top prize at Cannes, and went on to secure an Oscar nomination. France has not won the international feature Oscar since Regis Wargnier's Indochine in 1993.

This cycle also brings a rule change. The 2027 race is the first under new Academy rules that let top-prize winners in a language other than English from Berlin, Busan, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto and Venice enter the international race without being their country's official pick.