The Cesar Awards, France’s equal to the Oscars, are celebrating their fiftieth version on Friday on the Olympia Theater in Paris with a roster of nominations that’s richer — actually and figuratively — than in most years.
A pair of epic French blockbusters, “The Rely of Monte Cristo,” tailored from Alexandre Dumas’ literary traditional, and “Beating Hearts,” Gilles Lellouche’s sprawling crime romance, are main the race with 14 and 13 nominations respectively. Following carefully is one other glitzy pic, Jacques Audiard’s crime musical “Emilia Perez” vying for 12 nods, together with greatest movie and greatest actress for Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofía Gascón. The latter has made her first award present look on the Cesar Awards ceremony after laying low within the wake of her offensive posts. Gascón, who skipped the press line on the pink carpet, sat on the identical row as Audiard and Saldana contained in the Olympia theater, however didn’t seat subsequent to them.
The ceremony’s emcee, French actor Jean-Pascal Zadi, made enjoyable of her whereas describing the film in his opening speech and joked that “Emilia Perez” was “nominated for greatest director, greatest movie, greatest actress and greatest tweet,” sparking a mixture of shock and laugher within the crowd, together with on Audiard’s and Saldana’s faces. Zadi then instructed Audiard, “Jacques, that’s all we’ve left to do it, we’ve to snigger.”
Additionally within the combine is “A Little One thing Additional,” a smash hit comedy that includes non-professional actors with disabilities which bought almost 11 million admissions, earned a greatest first movie nomination for Artus, who directed and co-stars within the film. The solid of the film is predicted to point out up on the Cesar Awards dressed by Kering’s luxurious manufacturers, together with Saint-Laurent.
Possible probably the most well timed and politically minded film of this 12 months’s race, “Souleymane’s Story” was nominated for eight Cesar Awards, and received a handful, together with greatest male newcomer for Abou Sangare who stars a Guinean immigrant navigating the streets of Paris the place he works as a motorcycle courier forward of his asylum interview. Sangare delivered the ceremony’s first emotional second when he spoke about how his work in “Souleyman’s Journey” has modified his life. Simply final month, he lastly secured a visa in France on his fourth try. “Souleymane’s Story” additionally received greatest supporting actress for Nina Meurisse, and greatest unique script, in addition to greatest enhancing.
Different highlights included the presence of Catherine Deneuve on stage as ceremony president who paid tribute to Ukraine and reminisced about being inspired to start out performing at an early age by her sister, Françoise Dorléac, who was herself an actress and died in 1967; and the honorary tribute to Julia Roberts, whose award might be given to her by her “Nearer” co-star Clive Owen.
The tribute included retrospective of clips from Roberts’ greatest recognized movies together with “Fairly Girls” and “Erin Brockovich” and “My Finest Good friend’s Marriage ceremony,” however the actress quipped that she “didn’t acknowledge half of that work.” “It has been unbelievable. It has been a few years the place I’ve had the chance, each day, to expertise my dream. I’m grateful for the people who I’ve allowed me to reside this dream,” Roberts mentioned, including that the “folks I’m probably the most grateful for, who I owe probably the most, is my husband and my three stunning youngsters.”
Whereas presenting Roberts with the award, Owen mentioned “she’s usually talked about as having nice chemistry together with her co-stars (…) and it’s just because she makes the others higher. I do know this from private expertise.”
“I’ve labored together with her twice, and these two experiences have marked my profession and have marked me too,” Owen continued.
Roberts follows within the footsteps of final 12 months’s honoree Christopher Nolan. Throughout the opening speech, Zadi quipped that Roberts might to migrate to France if she’s sad in regards to the state of U.S. politics. “France is a welcoming land for political refugees,” he mentioned, prompting her to enthusiastically bow and nod her head in approval.
Julia Roberts arrives on the fiftieth Cesar Movie Awards.
Getty Photographs
The Cesar Academy is now presided over by indie French producer Patrick Sobelman and Gaumont’s senior government Ariane Toscan Du Plantier who’ve revamped the voting physique to make it extra various. However after Justine Triet turned the second feminine director to win a Cesar with “Anatomy of a Fall” (which additionally picked up greatest movie, unique screenplay, actress for Sandra Huller, supporting actor for Swann Arlaud and enhancing) in 2024, this fiftieth version is marked by the absence of girls filmmakers nominated for greatest director. There are, nevertheless, two ladies administrators vying for greatest first movie, Louis Courvoisier with “Holy Cow,” and Agathe Riedinger with “Wild Diamond.”
Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance,” in the meantime, is just nominated for one Cesar award, for greatest overseas movie, as a result of it’s the one class the movie is eligible in because of the truth that it was produced exterior of France and didn’t obtain an settlement from the Nationwide Movie Board. “The Substance,” nevertheless, might be competing for 5 Academy Awards on Sunday.
Fargeat’s film was beat by Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Curiosity” which was launched on in France on Jan. 31. Whereas Glazer didn’t attend the ceremony, the film’s French distributor, David Grumbach at Bac Movies, learn a fiery political speech penned by the filmmaker and referring to the struggle in Gaza.
The ceremony aired reside on Canal+ and was spearheaded “Name My Agent!” co-helmer Cedric Klapisch who served as creative director.
Beneath is the listing of Cesar Awards nominations and winners (in daring):
Finest Movie
“The Rely of Monte Cristo,” produced by Dimitri Rassam, Jerôme Seydoux, directed by Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de la Patelliere“Emilia Pérez,” produced by Pascal Caucheteux, Jacques Audiard, Valerie Schermann, directed by Jacques Audiard“The Marching Band, produced by Marc Bordure, Robert Guediguian, directed by Emmanuel Courcol“Souleymane’s Story,” produced by Bruno Nahon, directed by Boris Lojkine“Misericordia,” produced by Charles Gillibert, directed by Alain Guiraudie
Finest Director
Gilles Lellouche for “Beating Hearts”Matthieu Delaporte et Alexandre de la Patellière for “The Rely Of Monte Cristo”Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez”Boris Lojkine for “Souleymane’s Story”Alain Guiraudie for “Misericordia”
Finest Authentic Screenplay
Stéphane Demoustier for “Borgo”Emmanuel Courcol and Irène Muscari for “The Marching Band”Boris Lojkine et Delphine Agut for “Souleymane’s Story”Alain Guiraudie and “Misericordia”Louise Courvoisier and Théo Abadie for “Holy Cow”
Finest Tailored Screenplay
Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière for “The Rely Of Monte-Cristo”Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez”Michel Hazanavicius and Jean-Claude Grumberg for “The Most Valuable Of Cargoes”
Finest Actress
Adèle Exarchopoulos, “Beating Hearts”Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”Hafsia Herzi, “Borgo”Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”Hélène Vincent, “When Fall Is Coming”
Finest Actor
François Civil for “Beating Hearts”Benjamin Lavernhe for “The Marching Band”Karim Leklou for “Jim’s Story”Pierre Niney for “The Rely of Monte-Cristo”Tahar Rahim for “Monsieur Aznavour”
Feminine Revelation
Maïwène Barthelemy for “Holy Cow”Malou Khebizi for “Wild Diamond”Megan Northam for “Rabia”Mallory Wanecque for “Beating Hearts”Souheila Yacoub for “Planet B”
Male Revelation
Abou Sangare for “Souleymane’s Story”Adam Bessa for “Ghost Path”Malik Frikah for “Beating Hearts”Félix Kysil for “Misericordia”Pierre Lottin for “The Marching Band”
Finest Supporting Actress
Élodie Bouchez for Beating HeartsAnaïs Demoustier for The Rely of Monte CristoCatherine Frot for MisericordiaNina Meurisse for Souleymane’s StorySarah Suco for The Marching Band
Finest Supporting Actor
David Alaya for MisericordiaBastien Bouillon for The Rely of Monte CristoAlain Chabat for “Beating Hearts“Jacques Develay for MisericordiaLaurent Lafitte for The Rely of Monte Cristo
Finest First Movie
“Wild Diamond” by Agathe Riedinger“Ghost Path” by Jonathan Millet“The Kingdom” by Julien Colonna“A Little One thing Additional” by Artus“Holy Cow” by Louise Courvoisier
Finest Overseas Movie
“Anora” by Sean Baker“The Seed of The Sacred Fig Tree” by Mohammad Rasoulof“The Apprentice” by Ali Abbasi“The Substance” by Coralie Fargeat“The Zone Of Curiosity” by Jonathan Glazer
Finest Animated Function
“Stream” by Gint Zilbalodis“The Most Valuable of Cargoes” by Michel Hazanavicius“Savages” by Claude Barras
Finest Documentary
“The Belle from Gaza” by Yolande Zauberman.“Bye Bye Tiberias” by Lina Soualem“Dahomey” by Mati Diop“Ernest Cole: Misplaced and Discovered” by Raoul Peck“The Bertrand’s Farm” by Gilles Perret“Madame Hofmann” by Sébastien Lifshitz
Finest Sound
Cédric Deloche, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Jon Goc and Marc Doisne for “Beating Hearts”David Rit, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Olivier Touche, Laure-Anne Darras, Marion Papinot, Marc Doisne and Samuel Delorme for “The Rely of Monte Cristo”Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta for “Emilia Pérez”Pascal Armant, Sandy Notarianni and Niels Barletta for “The Marching Band”Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak and Samuel Aïchoun for “Souleymane’s Story”
Finest Cinematography
Laurent Tangy for Beating HeartsNicolas Bolduc for The Rely of Monte CristoPaul Guilhaume for Emilia PérezTristan Galand for Souleymane’s StoryClaire Mathon for Misericordia
Finest Enhancing
Simon Jacquet for “Beating Hearts”Célia Lafitedupont for “The Rely of Monte Cristo”Juliette Welfling for “Emilia Pérez”Guerric Catala for “The Marching Band”Xavier Sirven for “Souleymane’s Story”
Finest Costumes
Isabelle Pannetier for “Beating Hearts”Thierry Delettre for “The Rely of Monte Cristo”Virginie Montel for “Emilia Pérez”Isabelle Mathieu for “Monsieur Aznavour”Anaïs Romand for “The Divine Sarah Bernhardt”
Finest Manufacturing Design
Jean-Philippe Moreau for “Beating Hearts”Stéphane Taillasson for “The Rely of Monte Cristo”Emmanuelle Duplay for “Emilia Pérez”Stéphane Rozenbaum for “Monsieur Aznavour”Olivier Radot for “The Divine Sarah Bernhardt”
