Film recently overtook Amélie as most seen French-language film at international box office.

Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s comedy Intouchables has been selected as France’s Foreign Language Oscar submission.

A selection committee overseen by France’s National Cinema Centre (CNC) met on Tuesday to make the decision.

The committee comprised CNC official Paul Otchakovsky – Laurens, Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux, actress 
Bérénice Béjo, director Sylvain Chomet, make-up artist Didier Lavergne, screenwriter Abdel Raouf Dafri and Haut et Court producer Carole Scotta.

The comedy, starring François Cluzet as a wealthy tetraplegic opposite Omar Sy as his unlikely assistant from the wrong side of the tracks, has been a huge hit at home and abroad.

Beyond the Foreign Language Oscar race, US distributor Harvey Weinstein has also stated he would like to enter Intouchables for Best Picture Oscar. The Weinstein Company has grossed more than $7m with Intouchables in the US. Weinstein was instrumental in Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist sweeping the board at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony at the beginning of this year. 

Unifrance announced last week that the film had overtaken Amélie in the global box office chart as the most theatrically viewed French-language picture in history outside of France.

Global admissions outside of France stand at more than 23.2m. The film has been seen by some 20 million spectators back home. 

The picture was produced by Paris-based BBDA Quad Productions and sold internationally by Gaumont. 

The film, under the title Untouchable, is released starting Friday in the UK via Entertainment.

The Oscar nominations will be revealed Jan 15.

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