France is taking an unconventional but increasingly familiar route into the next Oscars race.
The country has selected Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur as its official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. The Russian-language drama arrives with one of the strongest credentials available in international cinema: it won the Grand Prix at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
But the choice is about more than a Cannes trophy.
Minotaur is a Russian-language film, directed by a Russian filmmaker and set in Russia, yet it is officially a France-Latvia-Germany production, with French companies CG Cinéma and MK Productions at the center of its production. That makes France’s selection an interesting reflection of how national cinema is changing in an increasingly international film industry.
A Cannes Winner Now Carrying France’s Name
The French Oscar committee made its decision on September 16 after considering five shortlisted films and hearing presentations from producers, international sales companies and U.S. distributors.
Minotaur emerged from a field that also included De Gaulle: Résistance, The Unknown, La Gradiva and the animated feature Iron Boy.
The Cannes result gave Zvyagintsev’s film a significant advantage in terms of international visibility.
At Cannes in May, Minotaur received the Grand Prix, one of the festival’s major prizes.
That recognition now becomes the foundation for a much longer awards campaign.
Why a Russian-Language Film Represents France
The most intriguing part of the selection is the film’s national identity.
Minotaur does not fit the traditional image of a French Oscar submission. It is primarily in Russian, and its story is rooted in contemporary Russia.
However, France is the film’s principal production base. The project was produced by French producers Charles Gillibert and Nathanaël Karmitz through CG Cinéma and MK Productions, alongside Latvian and German partners. It also received support from France’s CNC through its international cinema program.
In other words, France is representing a film that demonstrates the country’s ability to finance, produce and promote stories that extend far beyond its own borders.
That is becoming an increasingly important part of French cinema’s international identity.
Zvyagintsev Returns With a Film About a System Under Pressure
Minotaur also marks an important return for Zvyagintsev.
The filmmaker is internationally known for movies including Leviathan and Loveless, both of which examined family, society, power and institutional pressure.
His latest film follows Gleb, a successful company director whose carefully controlled existence begins to fall apart as professional and personal pressures intensify.
The Cannes synopsis describes a world in which corporate pressure and an increasingly unstable environment push the protagonist toward violence.
That intimate story gives Zvyagintsev a familiar framework: an individual attempting to maintain control while forces around him become increasingly difficult to contain.
The Political Context Adds Another Layer
Zvyagintsev’s background gives the film additional significance.
The director now lives in France and has been an outspoken critic of Russia’s war against Ukraine. His return to feature filmmaking therefore carries considerable political and cultural context, although Minotaur is ultimately being presented to the Academy as a work of cinema rather than simply as a political statement.
The film’s Russian setting and language also distinguish it from many conventional European awards contenders.
For international audiences, that combination could make the movie’s journey particularly distinctive as the Oscar campaign develops.
France’s Cinema Is Becoming More International
The choice also fits a broader change in the way France approaches international cinema.
The country’s five-film shortlist already demonstrated how wide the definition of a potential French Oscar entry has become. It included a Russian-language production, a historical French epic, a psychological drama, a Cannes Critics’ Week prizewinner and an animated feature.
That diversity matters.
France has one of Europe’s largest and most internationally connected film industries. Its producers frequently work with filmmakers, financing partners and distributors from other countries.
Minotaur offers a particularly clear example of that model.
The film is Russian in language and cultural setting, but French in much of its production infrastructure.
Cannes Recognition Gives the Film an Early Platform
Winning the Grand Prix does not guarantee an Oscar nomination, but it gives Minotaur something valuable at the beginning of awards season: established international recognition.
Cannes is one of the most closely watched film festivals in the world, and its major prize winners typically enter the following awards season with substantial critical and industry attention.
France is now building its official Oscar campaign around that momentum.
The French release is scheduled for October 14, with Les Films du Losange handling distribution. MK2 Films is responsible for international sales, while Mubi will distribute the film in the United States.
France Has a Long Oscar Drought to End
There is another reason the selection matters to French cinema.
France has not won the International Feature Film Oscar since Régis Wargnier’s Indochine won in 1993. That means the country is approaching a particularly long gap between victories in a category where French cinema has historically been a major presence.
The country has changed aspects of its Oscar selection process in recent years in an effort to strengthen its international awards campaigns.
This year, the French committee had 11 members and included professionals from production, distribution, sales, filmmaking and cultural institutions.
The selection of Minotaur suggests that the committee placed considerable value on the film’s international profile and Cannes recognition.
The Oscar Race Is Far From Over
Being selected by France is only the beginning.
Minotaur must now compete with submissions from countries around the world. The Academy will determine the international feature shortlist before the final nominations are announced.
The 99th Academy Awards are scheduled for March 14, 2027, in Los Angeles.
So the Cannes Grand Prix provides a strong starting point, but the film’s eventual Oscar journey will depend on its reception among Academy voters and the effectiveness of its international campaign.
A Different Definition of French Cinema
Perhaps the most interesting story here is not simply that France has selected another Cannes winner.
It is that France has chosen a film that challenges the idea of what a national cinema should look like.
A Russian-language movie, directed by a Russian filmmaker living in France and produced through French companies with European partners, will now carry the French flag into the Academy Awards race.
That reflects a film industry in which borders increasingly matter less to financing and production.
For France, Minotaur is therefore more than an Oscar submission. It is an example of how the country’s cinema industry can function as a meeting point for filmmakers and stories from different parts of the world.
The film now faces the difficult transition from Cannes prestige to Oscar recognition. Whether it ultimately reaches the final nominations remains to be seen, but France has chosen a submission that puts the country’s increasingly global role in filmmaking firmly in the spotlight.