A French film committee has selected Mustang to represent its country in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the upcoming 88th annual Academy Awards.
The selection committee consisted of Cannes’ artistic director Thierry Fremaux, president of UniFrance Jean-Paul Salome, president of the French Academy Alain Terzian, former director of Cinematheque Francaise Serge Toubiana, film director Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), and actresses Nathalie Baye (Laurence Anyways) and Melanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds).
Mustang follows five sisters on the brink of womanhood and the challenges they must face growing up in their conservative Turkish village.
The film is co-written and directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven in her first feature. Prior to Mustang, her acting abilities can be seen on display in the 2012 French drama Augustine.
Among the other films in close contention for the Oscar submission was Cannes’ Palme d’Or winner Dheepan, directed by Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone), a story of three Sri Lankan refugees who escape to France in an attempt to begin their new lives. Stephane Brize’s drama, The Measure of a Man, is another film that almost made the cut. It follows a former factory worker who is put in a tough ethical predicament at his new job.
France’s selection last year, Saint Laurent, did not wind up getting nominated for the category, and Poland’s 1960s period piece, Ida, took home the award.
Behind Italy, France has the second most wins of all time in the Best Foreign Language Film category with 12 out of 39 nominations in total, however their last win was in 1993 for Indochine.
UPDATE 9/23/15 11:17 AM PST: Watch the Official Trailer below.
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