11/01/2013 - The majority production of Les Films du Losange is in the limelight with 5 nominations. Emmanuelle Riva, Alexandre Desplat and Cédric Nicolas-Troyan are in the running

Ousted from the race for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film with its official candidate Untouchable [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and without Marion Cotillard (Rust & Bone [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile]) competing for the Best Actress award, the French cinema industry can nevertheless pride itself on the five nominations received by Love by Austrian director Michael Haneke, in the running for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film awards. The feature film was in fact produced 70% by France (20% by Germany and 10% by Austria), piloted by Margaret Ménégoz for Les Films du Losange. Also supported by an advance on receipts from the CNC, Love was co-produced by France 3 Cinéma and pre-bought by Canal+ and Ciné+.

The work of Michael Haneke also places Emmanuelle Riva (photo) among the five candidates for the Oscar for Best Actress, for which she will compete against English actress Naomi Watts (The Impossible) and three Americans: Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence and the very young Quvenzhané Wallis. At the age of 85, Emmanuelle Riva (revealed in 1959 with Hiroshima, mon amour) becomes the oldest actress ever nominated for this Oscar.

 It should be noted that the French companies for French international sales hold the rights to three of the five titles nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film: Les Films du Losange with Love, Films Distribution with the Canadian feature film War Witch, and Funny Balloons with No by Chilean director Pablo Larraín.

Two Frenchmen who worked on American productions have also been nominated: Alexandre Desplat (composer of the music for Argo and receiving his 5^th nomination since 2007) and Cédric Nicolas-Troyan (for the special effects in Snow White and the Huntsman). Still in the field of special effects, the nomination of Ang Lee's The Life of Pi (which boasts 11 nominations in all) reflects very positively on the French company BUF, which contributed to the film. 

Mention should also be made of the two French co-productions for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature: The Gatekeepers (Israel Confidential) by Dror Moreh (co-produced by Les Films du Poisson and Arte France, and also supported by the CNC and the Ile-de-France Region) and 5 Broken Cameras by Palestinian director Emad Burnat and Israeli director Guy Davidi (with Alegria Productions and Guy DVD Films on the French side). Finally, a French minority co-production is also competing in the short fiction films section with Death of a Shadow by Belgian director Tom Van Avermaet (co-produced by Perspective Films).

(Translated from French)