César Nominations: Louis Garrel’s ‘The Innocent’ Takes Surprise Lead, Followed By ‘Night Of The 12th’ – Full List

UPDATE: Louis Garrel’s The Innocent has taken a surprise lead in the nominations for the 48th César Awards, which were announced on Wednesday ahead of the ceremony at Olympia concert hall in Paris on February 24.

The comedy-drama, which debuted in Cannes, was nominated in 11 categories followed by Dominik Moll’s detective drama The Night Of The 12th with 10 nominations.

Albert Serra’s Pacifiction and Cedric Klapisch’s Rise both snared nominations in nine categories, followed by Forever Young and November with seven each.

Garrel directs and co-stars in The Innocent as a man who tries to derail his mother’s relationship with a recently released convict, played by Roschdy Zem, in a campaign that will find him flirting with the wrong side of the law.

The film has received strong reviews and was a hit in France where it drew more than 700,000 spectators, but did not figure among the buzz titles in the French media ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.

The Night Of The 12th was among the hot favourites having recently triumphed at France’s Lumière awards, winning Best Film and Best Screenplay.

The film world premiered in the Cannes Film Festival’s non-competitive Cannes Première section. Bastien Bouillon stars as a police detective who becomes obsessed with a case involving a complex female murder victim.

Serra’s French Polynesia-set drama Pacifiction has seen its star rise on the French awards circuit after also triumphing at the Lumière awards, winning Best Director for Serra, Actor for Benoît Magimal and Best Cinematography for Artur Tort. All three are now in the frame for a César.

In the Best Foreign Film Category, three 2023 Oscar nominees made the cut: Best International Film hopefuls Close and EO as well as Triangle Of Sadness, which is nominated for Best Director, Film and Screenplay at the Academy Awards.

Boy From Heaven and The Beasts, which has a strong following in France, also made it into the category.

France’s 2023 Oscar submission Saint Omer, which made it to the Academy Awards shortlist but was not nominated on Tuesday, secured four César nominations but not for Best Film or Director. It is up for Best Female Newcomer, First Film, Screenplay and Cinematography.

Like the Oscars, it was a poor year for female representation in the top categories of Best Film and Director. Not a single female director made it into the Best Director category, while Forever Young by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi is the only female-directed feature in the running for Best Film.

Films by female directors generating buzz ahead of the nomination announcement included Alice Winocour’s Paris Memories, which got one nomination, and Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children which did not make it into a single category.

Forever Young has been mired in controversy after news broke in December that its young co-star Sofiane Bennacer had been indicted on allegations of rape and violence by four women.

The news prompted the Césars Academy to remove Bennacer from the 2023 edition of its Revelations initiative, showcasing young talent.

Bennacer has denied the charges and Bruni-Tedeschi voiced support for the actor, saying news coverage of the affair was tantamount to a public lynching.

However, the incident prompted the César Academy to introduce a new regulation stating that professionals under formal investigation for violence can no longer participate in the awards.

The César awards are voted on by the 3,000 members of the César Academy spanning all disciplines within the film industry.

The 48th César ceremony will be presided over by Tahar Rahim with support from a host of French cinema figures including Leïla Bekhti, Jérôme Commandeur, Jamel Debbouze, Emmanuelle Devos, Léa Drucker, Eye Haïdara, Alex Lutz, Raphaël Personnaz and Ahmed Sylla.

Other previously announced highlights include a career César for David Fincher, who follows in the wake of Cate Blanchett, Penelope Cruz and Michael Douglas.

The 2023 Nominations

BEST FILM
Forever Young
Rise
The Innocent
The Night Of The 12th
Pacifiction

BEST DIRECTOR
Cedric Klapisch, Rise
Louis Garrel, The Innocent
Cedric Jimenez, November
Dominik Moll, The Night Of The 12th
Albert Serra, Pacifiction

BEST ACTRESS

Fanny Ardant, The Young Lovers
Juliette Binoche, Between Two Worlds
Laure calami, Full Time
Virginie Efira, Paris Memories
Adele Exarchopoulos, Zero Fucks Given

BEST ACTOR
Jean Dujardin, November
Louis Garrel, The Innocent
Vincent Macaigne, Diary Of A Fleeting Affair
Benoit Magimel, Pacifiction
Denis Menochet, Peter von Kant

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Judith Chemla, Le Sixieme Enfant
Anais Demoustier, November
Anouk Grinberg, The Innocent
Lyna Khoudri, November
Noemie Merlant, The Innocent

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Francois Civil, Rise
Bouli Lanners, The Night Of The 12th
Micha Lescot, Young Forever
Pio Marmaï, Rise
Roschdy Zem, The Innocent

BEST FEMALE NEWCOMER
Marion Barbeau, Rise
Guslagie Malanda, Saint Omer
Rebecca Marder, A Radiant Girl
Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Forever Young
Mallory Wanecque, The Worst Ones

BEST MALE NEWCOMER
Bastien Bouillon, The Night Of The 12th
Stefan Crepon, Peter Von Kant
Dimitri Dore, Bruno Reidal, Confessions Of A Murderer
Paul Kircher, Winter Boy
Aliocha Reinert, Softie

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eric Gravel, Full Time
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Noemie Lvovsky, Agnes de Sacy, Forever Young
Cedric Klapisch, Santiago Amigorena, Rise
Louis Garrel, Tanguy Viel, Naïla Guiguet, The Innocent
Alice Diop, Amrita David, Marie Ndiaye, Saint Omer

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Michel Hazanavicius, Final Cut
Thierry de Peretti, Jeanne Aptekman, Undercover
Gilles Marchand, Dominik Moll, The Night Of The 12th

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Irene Dresel, Full Time
Alexandre Desplat, Final Cut
Gregoire Hetzel, The Innocent
Olivier Marguerit, The Night Of The 12th
Marc Verdaguer, Joe Robinson, Pacifiction
Anton Sanko, The Passengers Of The Night

BEST SOUND
Cyril Moisson, Nicolas Moreau, Cyril Holtz, Rise
Laurent Benaim, Alexis Meynet, Olivier Guillaume, The Innocent
Cedric Deloche, Alexis Place, Gwennole Le Borgne, Marc Doisne, November
François Maurel, Olivier Mortier, Luc Thomas, The Night Of The 12th
Jordi Ribas, Benjamin Laurent, Bruno Tarriere, Pacifiction

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Julien Poupard, Forever Young
Alexis Kavyrchine, Rise
Patrick Ghiringhelli, The Night Of The 12th
Artur, Pacification
Claire Mathon, Saint Omer

BEST EDITING
Mathilde van de Moortel, Full Time
Anne-Sophie Bion, Rise
Pierre Deschamps, The Innocent
Laure Gardette, Novembre
Laurent Rouan, The Night Of The 12th

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Caroline de Vivaise, Forever Young
Pierre-Jean Larroque, The Colours Of Fire
Emmanuelle Youchnovski, Waiting For Bojangles
Corinne Bruand, The Innocent
Praxedes de Vilallonga, Pacifiction
Gigi Lepage, Simone – Journey Of The Century

BEST EDITING
Mathilde van de Moortel, Full Time
Anne-Sophie Bion, Rise
Pierre Deschamps, The Innocent
Laure Gardette, Novembre
Laurent Rouan, The Night Of The 12th

BEST SET DESIGN
Emmanuelle Duplay, Forever Young,
Sebastian Birchler, The Colours Of Fire
Michel Barthelemy, The Night Of The 12th
Sebastian Vogler, Pacifiction
Christian Marti, Simone – The Voyage Of The Century

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Guillaume Marien, The Five Devils
Sebastien Rame, Smoking Causes Coughing,
Laurens Ehrmann, Notre Dame On Fire
Mikael Tang Uy, November
Marco del Bianco, Pacifiction

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ernest and Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia
My Sunny Maad
Little Nicholas

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Rookies
The Super 8 Years
Heart Of Oak
Jane By Charlotte
Returning To Reims

BEST DEBUT FEATURE
Bruno Reidal, Confession Of A Murderer
Falcon Lake, Charlotte Le Bon
The Worst Ones
Saint Omer
Le Sixième Enfant

BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Beasts
Close
Boy From Heaven
EO
Triangle Of Sadness

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Caline
Noir-soleil
La Vie Sexuelle De Mamie

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Churchill, Polar Bear Town
Ecoutez Le Battement De Nos Images
Maria Schneider, 1983

BEST SHORT FILM
Haut Les Coeurs
Partir Un Jour
Le Roi David
Les Vertueuses