Tran Anh Hung's film 'The Pot-au-Feu' hits theaters in the US, likely to compete for an Oscar

The French film The Pot-au-Feu by director Tran Anh Hung was successful at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and is one of the films that could represent France in the Oscars, according to Variety.

The film, originally titled La Passion de Dodin Bouffant, is entering the Oscars for consideration in all general categories, including best picture. The Pot-au-Feu received critical acclaim upon its release, and French-Vietnamese filmmaker Tran Anh Hung won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival for it.

Benoît Magimel and Juliette Binoche in the movie The Pot-au-Feu

Tran Anh Hung is famous for directing The Scent of Green Papaya (1993) - the first and only Vietnamese-language film nominated for the Oscar for best international film.

Written by Tran Anh Hung and based on Marcel Rouffe's 1924 novel The Passionate Epicure , The Pot-au-Feu follows the life of Dodin Bouffant (Benoît Magimel), an elite chef who has been living with his lover Eugénie (Juliette Binoche) for over two decades. As they grow fond of each other, their relationship turns into a romance, resulting in delicious dishes that impress even the world's most illustrious chefs.

The Pot-au-Feu will compete with the Palme d'Or-winning Anatomy of a Fall to become France's official Oscar selection. Tran Anh Hung's film still has many opportunities to break through in other categories such as acting, screenplay and cinematography.

Following the win, the culinary love story was acquired by IFC Films and Sapan Studio in June 2023. It is one of the first films to be acquired by the two studios. Sapan Studio is run by former AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan.

Director Tran Anh Hung (center) at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: REUTERS

Film critic Guy Lodge praised The Pot-au-Feu for engaging audiences "entirely on the pleasure of beauty, vicarious indulgence and, ultimately, the human care of fine cuisine".

Speaking to Variety at the Cannes Film Festival, director Tran Anh Hung said that “my first challenge was to make a film that was unlike any other”. Referring to the opening scene, he said he tried to capture “the choreography in a cinematic way, to be magnificent, like a ballet”. The Pot-au-Feu will be released in the US but has not yet announced a release date.

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