16/09/2011

The remarkable career of Valérie Donzelli’s Declaration of War [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see review) continues, for the film has just been selected to represent France in the nomination race for the 2012 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, to be awarded on February 26 of next year, after the final five nominees are creamed off on January 24.

The feature (the director’s second after The Queen of Hearts [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) was thus chosen in preference to the French films selected in competition at Cannes this year (including The Artist [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Poliss [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïwenn
film profile]) and Roman Polanski’s Carnage [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

The film, which created a stir at the Cannes Film Festival 2011 where it opened the Critics’ Week, tells in an electrifying style of the moving battle fought by a couple who are faced with the serious illness of their young child. It has won a string of awards: the Jury Prize, Audience Award and Bloggers’ Award at Paris Cinéma, the Grand Prize at the Cabourg Film Festival and the Valois for Best Film at the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival.

Launched in French theatres on August 31 by Wild Bunch Distribution on a 129-print run (increased to 235 in its second week), Declaration of War has already charmed audiences with 390,000 admissions in 14 days. As for international sales, Wild Bunch has already sealed deals with numerous territories, with a first release scheduled for September 22 in the Netherlands.

For the record, majority French production Omar Killed Me [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Rachid Bouchareb (previously nominated for the Oscar in 1996, 2007 and 2011) will represent Morocco in the same race for the 2012 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

(Translated from French)