César Award

César Award
40th César Awards
Entrance of Théâtre du Châtelet during the 39th César Awards, 2014
Awarded for	Achievements in French cinema
Country	France
Presented by	Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma
First awarded	1976
Official website	academie-cinema.org

The César Award is the national film award of France; it is delivered in the Nuit des César ceremony and it was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Ministry of Culture.^[1] The nationally televised award ceremony is held in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris each February.

The César Award is considered the highest film honor in France, the French film industry's equivalent to the Molière Award for theatre, and the Victoires de la Musique for music. In cinema, it is the French equivalent of the Academy Award in the United States.

The award was created by sculptor César Baldaccini (1921–1998) who created it.

The 40th César Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on 20 February 2015, with Dany Boon acting as the chairman of the ceremony.^[2]

History

In 1974, Georges Cravenne founded the Academy of Arts and Techniques of Cinema that was, from the outset, intended to reward the achievements and the most remarkable film artwork, to have a French equivalent to the American Oscars. The first César Awards – also known as the "Night of Caesar" – were held on April 3, 1976 under the chairmanship of Jean Gabin who watched the ceremony from the front row seated in a wheelchair a few months before his death. The name of the award comes from the sculptor César, designer of the trophy awarded to the winners in each category. It is also an homage to the Raimu, the great French actor and performer of Marseille trilogy of Marcel Pagnol, in which Raimu played the character of César.

Josiane Balasko, Daniel Auteuil, Catherine Deneuve, and Karin Viard at the 2000 César Award Ceremony

The César Awards replaced the Étoile de cristal (fr), which was awarded from 1955 to 1975. Other prizes had been awarded to French cinema in the past. From 1934 to 1986, the Grand prix du cinéma français (fr), established by film pioneer Louis Lumière, was given to one film a year. In the 1950s, the Victoire du cinéma français (fr) was awarded each June. Lacking popular enthusiasm compared to the Étoile de cristal, this award was discontinued after 1964.

At the inaugural César Awards, 13 awards were distributed. Today, there are 22 (in nine subcategories). Categories added in recent years include Best New Actor/Actress (Meilleur espoir), Best Documentary (Meilleur documentaire) and Best Animated Film (Meilleur film d'animation), while awards honoring the best film poster and best producer have been dropped, as they are now given at a sister ceremony, the Prix Daniel Toscan du Plantier (fr).

Voting process

Voting for César Awards is conducted through two ballots by mail: the first to establish nominations per category (three to five, depending on the discipline), and the second to decide the winner.

Voters are professionals in the field, numbering about 4,000, divided into 12 colleges (actors, directors, writers, technicians, producers, distributors and international vendors, operators, agents artistic, technical industries, casting directors, press officers and members associates). The criteria for voting are: demonstrate a relatively consistent career in film and get a double sponsorship in the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma. Nominees or winners of the previous editions are exempt from these formalities.

To aid voters, the Académie identifies each year films released in France and provides a guide to the works and eligible professionals. A DVD set of French or primarily French productions produced during the year is sent in December with the catalog of films to the electors. After the nominations are revealed, at the end of January, special screenings of the nominated films are shown at the Le Balzac cinema in Paris, near the Champs-Élysées. Each year, a special lunch (Déjeuner des nommés aux César du cinéma (fr)) for nominees is held at the famous Fouquet's (fr) restaurant on the Champs-Élysées, a few weeks before the ceremony.

Categories

Presidents of the ceremony

Trivia

Films which received five or more César Awards

• 10 wins – Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) (13 nominations)
• 10 wins – The Last Metro (1980) (12 nominations)
• 9 wins – A Prophet (2009) (13 nominations)
• 8 wins – The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) (10 nominations)
• 7 wins – All the World's Mornings (1991) (11 nominations)
• 7 wins – Goodbye, Children (1987) (9 nominations)
• 7 wins – The Pianist (2002) (10 nominations)
• 7 wins – Providence (1977) (8 nominations)
• 7 wins – Same Old Song (1997) (12 nominations)
• 7 wins – Séraphine (2008) (9 nominations)
• 6 wins – The Artist (2012) (10 nominations)
• 6 wins – Thérèse (1986) (10 nominations)
• 5 wins – Lady Chatterley (2007) (9 nominations)
• 5 wins – Queen Margot (1994) (12 nominations)
• 5 wins – Camille Claudel (1988) (12 nominations)
• 5 wins – Smoking/No Smoking (1993) (9 nominations)
• 5 wins – Too Beautiful for You (1989) (11 nominations)
• 5 wins – A Very Long Engagement (2004) (12 nominations)
• 5 wins – La Vie en Rose (2007) (11 nominations)
• 5 wins – Amour (2013) (10 nominations)
• 5 wins – Me, Myself and Mum (2014) (10 nominations)

Films which received 10 or more César Award nominations

Directors with two or more awards

• Roman Polanski – 4 nominations, 4 wins
• Alain Resnais – 8 nominations, 2 wins
• Bertrand Tavernier – 7 nominations, 2 wins
• Jacques Audiard – 5 nominations, 2 wins
• Jean-Jacques Annaud – 4 nominations, 2 wins
• Claude Sautet – 4 nominations, 2 wins
• Abdellatif Kechiche – 3 nominations, 2 wins

Actors with 7 or more nominations

• Gérard Depardieu – 16 nominations, 2 César
• Isabelle Huppert – 14 nominations, 1 César
• Catherine Deneuve – 13 nominations, 2 César
• Daniel Auteuil – 12 nominations, 2 César
• Fabrice Luchini – 10 nominations, 1 César
• Miou-Miou – 10 nominations, 1 César
• Nathalie Baye – 9 nominations, 4 César
• Dominique Blanc – 9 nominations, 4 César
• François Cluzet – 9 nominations, 1 César
• Catherine Frot – 9 nominations, 1 César
• Isabelle Adjani – 8 nominations, 5 César (record for most wins)
• Sandrine Kiberlain – 8 nominations, 1 César
• Michel Serrault – 8 nominations, 3 César
• André Dussollier – 7 nominations, 3 César

"Big Five" winners and nominees

Winners

• The Last Metro (1980)

1. Best Film: The Last Metro
2. Best Director: François Truffaut
3. Best Actor: Gérard Depardieu
4. Best Actress: Catherine Deneuve
5. Best Writing: Suzanne Schiffman and François Truffaut

• Amour (2013)

1. Best Film: Amour
2. Best Director: Michael Haneke
3. Best Actor: Jean-Louis Trintignant
4. Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva
5. Best Writing: Michael Haneke

Nominees

Four awards won

• Smoking/No Smoking (1993): best Actress (Sabine Azéma)
• Too Beautiful for You (1989): best Actor (Gérard Depardieu)

Three awards won

• Cyrano de Bergerac (1990): best Actress (Anne Brochet) and Writing (Jean-Claude Carrière and Jean-Paul Rappeneau)
• Same Old Song (1997): best Actress (Sabine Azéma) and Director (Alain Resnais)

Most acting wins and nominations

See also

• List of film awards

References

1. ^ "The César Ceremony", Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma
2. ^ "Dany Boon président des César : la Ch'ti revanche".