Latest in César Awards

There were bound to be some pin-drop moments during tonight’s César Awards, but for the most part things ran smoothly until Roman Polanski was named Best Director for his Dreyfus Affair drama, An Officer And A Spy, late into the evening. The film had already taken Best Costumes and Best Adapted Screenplay, yet when it…

UPDATED, writethru: Ladj Ly’s Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize laureate Les Misérables was the big winner at Friday night’s 45th annual César Awards, France's equivalent to the Oscars, including taking the top honor of Best Film. The night unfolded, however, under tumultuous conditions owing to controversy surrounding R…

Filmmaker Roman Polanski, whose An Officer And A Spy leads nominations for France’s César Awards, has said he will not attend the prize ceremony tomorrow night. In a statement to Agence France Presse, Polanski said, “For several days, people have been asking me if I will or won’t be coming to the ceremony. The…

The French Académie des Arts et Technique du Cinéma, the group that hands out the country’s César Awards, said Thursday that the board of directors at its parent the Association for the Promotion of Cinema will step down after this year’s ceremony, which is set for February 28 in Paris. The news comes amid backlash…

A group of nine feminist associations has called upon voting members of France's Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma not to mark their César Awards ballots for Roman Polanski's An Officer And A Spy. The Dreyfus Affair drama has a leading 12 nominations for the prizes which will be handed out on February 28 in…

France's Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma is facing strong backlash within its membership ranks, a little more than two weeks ahead of the César Awards, the local equivalent to the Oscars. Some 200 artists published an open letter in Le Monde on Monday, calling into question an "elitist and closed" Academy…

UPDATED: Nominations for the 45th César Awards were unveiled this morning in Paris, led by Roman Polanski’s Dreyfus Affair drama An Officer And A Spy with 12 including Best Film, Director and Actor (for Jean Dujardin). While Polanski remains a controversial figure owing to his 1977 child sex conviction and subsequent…

UPDATE, WRITETHRU: France’s biggest movie awards night has drawn to a close with Custody (Jusqu’à La Garde) crowned Best Picture. Originally screened in Venice and Toronto in 2017, the Xavier Legrand-directed drama is a story of domestic abuse that stars Denis Ménochet and Léa Drucker, the latter won Best Actress…

France's Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma unveiled its nominations for the César Awards this morning in Paris. The races for the country's Oscar equivalent are led by Xavier Legrand's feature debut Jusqu'à La Garde (Custody) and Gilles Lellouche's Le Grand Bain (Sink Or Swim) with 10 mentions each. They are…

UPDATE: For the second year in a row, France’s César Awards have thumbed their nose at the Oscars. Robin Campillo’s lauded activist drama BPM scored the Best Film prize tonight in Paris, along with wins for editing, original screenplay, supporting actor, score and more. The Cannes Grand Jury Prize laureate had earlier…

A day after a group of about 100 French artists launched the #MaintenantOnAgit (Now We Act) campaign to facilitate access to justice for female victims of violence, a group of 300 artists and executives is backing the “5050 Pour 2020” (50/50 by 2020) movement. Among the founding signatories are Céline Sciamma, Lea Seyd…

In a surprising turn of events, art will meet commerce — and comedy — going forward at France's César Awards. The Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma today said it has created a new prize for the annual ceremony which will go to the French film with the most ticket sales in the previous year. The Césars, France…