César Awards

The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the Nuit des César ceremony and 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. The nationally televised award ceremony is held in Paris each year in February. The exact location has changed over the years (in the Théâtre du Châtelet from 2002 to 2016). It is an initiative of the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, which was founded in 1975.

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 to the Academy Award.

The award was created by Georges Cravenne, who was also the creator of the Molière Award for theatre. The name of the award comes from the sculptor César Baldaccini (1921–1998) who designed it.

The 49th César Awards ceremony took place on 23 February 2024. Anatomy of a Fall, directed by Justine Triet, won the award for Best Film.

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 3 April 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. The César Awards replaced the, which was awarded from 1955 to 1975. Other prizes had been awarded to French cinema in the past. From 1934 to 1986, the, established by film pioneer Louis Lumière, was given to one film a year. In the 1950s, the 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 Most Promising 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. In September 2021, the governing association of the César Awards voted to create two new awards that were introduced in the 47th ceremony: Best Visual Effects and Best Documentary Short Film.

Beginning with the 43rd César ceremony in 2018, a new special award, the César du public, is given to the French film with the most box office receipts during the previous year and the beginning of the current year. This award responds to the need to reward French comedy films, which remain the most popular genre in France.

During the 45th ceremony in 2020, Adèle Haenel, a French actress playing the main character in Portrait of a Lady on Fire, left the room when Roman Polanski's award for best director was announced in protest against the fact that notable sexual abusers in the film industry can receive awards when their victims are reduced to silence. Polanski was convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old in California in 1978, and has additionally been accused of other incidents of rape.

The statue
The César statues are compressed sculptures of metal objects, designed in 1975 by the sculptor César Baldaccini, a friend of Georges Cravenne who gave them their name as a wink to the Oscars, the sound of the name being close to the film César by Pagnol. These forged pieces are made from polished natural bronze, unlike the Oscars which are plated in gold. The latter directly inspired the first AATC trophy in 1976, which was a reel of film encircling a silhouette. In 1977, before a mixed reception of actors, Baldaccini unveiled the current 8 by 8 cm compression, weighing 3.6 kg and cast in the Bocquel foundry in Normandy. The cost of a César has not been officially revealed, but is estimated at around 1,500 euros.

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 for nominees is held at the famous Fouquet's restaurant on the Champs-Élysées, a few weeks before the ceremony.

Merit awards

 * Best Film
 * Best Director
 * Best Actor
 * Best Actress
 * Best Supporting Actor
 * Best Supporting Actress
 * Best Male Revelation
 * Best Female Revelation
 * Best Adaptation
 * Best Original Screenplay
 * Best First Feature Film
 * Best Foreign Film


 * Best Animated Film
 * Best Documentary Film
 * Best Fiction Short Film
 * Best Animated Short Film
 * Best Cinematography
 * Best Costume Design
 * Best Editing
 * Best Music Written for a Film
 * Best Production Design
 * Best Sound
 * Best Documentary Short Film
 * Best Visual Effects

Special awards

 * Honorary Award – since 1976
 * César des Césars – between 1985 and 1995
 * Prix Daniel Toscan du Plantier – since 2008
 * Trophée César & Techniques – since 2011
 * Médaille d'Or – only in 2015
 * César & Techniques Special Award – only between 2015 and 2017
 * César & Techniques Innovation Award – since 2018
 * César du public – since 2018

Retired awards

 * Best Film from the European Union (2002–2004)
 * Best Poster (1986–1990)
 * Best Producer (1995–1996)
 * Best Writing (Adaptation or Original) (1976–2005)
 * Best French Language Film (1984–1986)
 * Best Short Film (1992–2021)

Winners

 * The Last Metro (1980)
 * 1) Best Film: François Truffaut
 * 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: Michael Haneke & Margaret Ménégoz
 * 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)
 * The Artist (2011): Best Actor (Jean Dujardin) and Writing (Michel Hazanavicius)
 * Custody (2017): Best Actor (Denis Ménochet) and Director (Xavier Legrand)