France's National Film Board has announced its revamped and expanded Oscar committee, led by Charles Tesson, the former artistic director of Cannes' Critics Week.

Along with Tesson, the committee includes “Emmanuelle” director Audrey Diwan who won Venice’s Golden Lion with “Happening” in 2021; critically acclaimed French playwright, director and producer Florian Zeller (“The Father”); former Lionsgate boss Patrick Wachsberger; international sales veterans Carole Baraton from Charades, and Gregoire Melin from Kinology; powerful French distributor Michèle Halberstadt from ARP Selection; producers Rosalie Varda (“Faces Places”) from Ciné-Tamaris, Nadim Cheikhroua (“Olfa’s Daughters”) and David Thion (“Anatomy of a Fall”) at Les Films Pelléas; and actor Clemence Poesy.

Appointed by France's culture minister, Rachida Dati, the committee faces the challenging task of choosing the French film most likely to bring the country its first Oscar for best international feature in over three decades. The committee was enlarged from seven to 11 members with five alternates earlier this year in response to the backlash over the “ Anatomy of a Fall” snub . Unlike previous years, members will hold their positions for two years.

As previously discussed in Variety , the intention behind expanding the voting pool is to ensure decisions are not influenced by personal or professional connections. The committee will convene tomorrow, Sept. 11, to narrow down the selection to three to five films that will be considered for the shortlist; and will hold a second meeting next Wednesday, Sept. 18, to evaluate the producers, international sales agents, and U.S. distributors of the shortlisted films. Following the evaluations, voting will take place on the same day to determine France's Oscar submission.

This year's Oscar race is shaping up to be intense. While Jacques Audiard's “Emilia Perez,” a thrilling redemption story “ Emilia Perez ” which garnered two major awards at Cannes, is considered a frontrunner, “ The Count of Monte Cristo ,” a sweeping three-hour epic adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic, has also emerged as a formidable contender, having sold over 8 million tickets in France. Another film potentially in the running is Alain Guiraudie's “Misericorde”, which debuted at Cannes and has been making the rounds at numerous fall festivals.