Film by Vietnamese-born French director to vie for Palme d’Or

The nominees for the Palme d’Or – the grand award of Cannes — was announced by the organizers on Thursday.

Set in the French culinary world in 1885, the film tells the love story between chef Eugenie (Juliette Binoche) and gourmet customer Dodin Bouffat (Benoit Magimel).

According to Variety, the filming took place at a castle in Segré-en-Anjou Bleu, Maine-et-Loire Province, France from April to May 2022. Pierre Gagnaire, a chef with 14 Michelin stars who played a small role in the film, also acted as a culinary consultant.

Hung will compete for the Palme d'Or with many veteran filmmakers such as Aki Kaurismaki (Fallen Leaves), Wes Anderson (Asteroid City), Hiokazu Kore-eda (Monster) and Todd Haynes (May December).

Director Tran Anh Hung. Photo courtesy of Tran Anh Hung

Tran Anh Hung, who was born in 1962, attended the prestigious École Louis-Lumière film school in France. His work "The Scent of Green Papaya" received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. To date, this is still the only Vietnamese-language film to be nominated for an Academy Award.

In 1995, Hung won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival for "Cyclo." He directed the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s famous novel "Norwegian Wood" in 2010 and was nominated for the Golden Lion.

The 76th Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 16 to May 27. Last year, the internationally co-produced film "Triangle of Sadness" by Ruben Ostlund won the Palme d’Or.