Merry Christmas selected to represent the French film at the Oscars 2006
03 Oct 2005
The opening film of the 32nd Flanders International Filmfestival Ghent, Merry Christmas has been selected by the CNC to officially represent the French film as Best Foreign Film at the Oscars in 2006.
There are three main reasons why Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent has selected Merry Christmas as its opening film, explains Managing Director Jacques Dubrulle. "Firstly, the film emphasises the futility of war in a tragicomic manner. This fits in perfectly with the theme of the 32nd Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent: activism in cinema. Secondly, music plays an important part in the film: when a bagpipe melody is played on Christmas Eve, the combatants put down their arms and jointly celebrate a white Christmas. Thirdly, this film is a European co-production between Belgium, France, Germany, the UK and Romania. And then on top of all that, there is the beautiful photography by Belgian cinematographer Walther Vanden Ende." A fourth reason can be added to these : the CNC (Centre National du Cinéma) has officially selected the film as the French title that will compete for the Oscar of Best Foreign Film 2006.