This morning in Fouquet's restaurant on Champs Elysees the Academy President, Alain Terzian, held a press conference to announce the nominations for the current edition of the awards that honor French cinema. He also addressed the controversy around the appointment of the president of this years' awards, his resignation and said nothing about a replacement.Elle by Paul Verhoeven and Frantz by François Ozon lead with eleven (11) nominations each followed by Ma Loute (Slack Bay) by Bruno Dumont with nine (9), Mal de Pierres by Nicole Garcia with eight (8) and Divines by Houda Benyamina with seven (7) nominations.
Terzain also congratulated Isabelle Huppert on her Oscar nomination and today's César nomination is the16th time she's honored; she has won once for her performance inLa Cérémonieby Claude Chabrol . There are seven actresses with a Best Actress nomination and still there are some very visible snubs like Juliette Binoche, Adèle Haenel, Isabelle Adjani, Kristen Stewart and more. Have no doubt that 2016 was a great year for actresses performances even when believe that the year was so-so for French films, sigh. Nevertheless, I'm very pleased with Soko, Sidse Babett Knudsen and Marion Cotillard nominations.Perhaps is unnecessary to say that the majority of films come from Cannes 2016 but this year is remarkable the amount of films that come from the festival.
Among the Best Film snubs, the most remarkable absent are Nocturama, L'Avenir, and Personal Shopper. Still, it's fantastic that one of the best French films I saw in 2016 got a nomination, I'm referring to Anne Fontaine's Les Innocentes.
This year the Academy will honor Jean-Paul Belmondo with a tribute and George Clooney will receive an honorary César.
Best Film
Divines, Houda Benyamina
Elle, Paul Verhoeven
Frantz, François Ozon
Les Innocentes (The Innocents), Anne Fointaine
Ma Loute (Slack Bay), Bruno Dumont
Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon), Nicole Garcia
Victoria, Justine Triet
Best Debut Film
Cigarettes et chocolat chaud, Sophie Reine
La Danseuse (The Dancer), Stéphanie Di Giusto
Diamant Noir (Dark Diamond), Athur Harari
Divines, Houda Benyamina
Rosalie Blum, Julien Rappeneau
Best Documentary Film
Dernières nouvelles du cosmos, Julie Bertucelli
Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea), Gianfranco Rosi
Merci patron!, François Rufin
Swagger, Olivier Babinet
Voyage à travers le cinéma français (Journey Through French Cinema), Bertrand Tavernier
Best Animated Feature
La jeune fille sans mains (The Girl Without Hands), Sébastien Laudenbach
Ma vie de Cougette (My Life as a Zuchinni), Claude Barras
La tortue rouge (The Red Turtle), Michael Dudok de Wit
Best Foreign Film
Aquarius, Kleber Mendonça Filho
Baccalaureat (Graduation), Cristian Mungiu
La fille inconnue (The Unknown Girl), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardene
I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
Juste la fin du monde (It's Only the End of the World), Xavier Dolan
Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan
Toni Erdmann, Maren Ade
Best Director
Houda Benyamina for Divines
Paul Verhoeven for Elle
François Ozon for Frantz
Anne Fontaine for Les Innocentes (The Innocents)
Xavier Dolan for Juste la fin du monde (It's Only the End of the World)
Bruno Dumont for Ma Loute (Slack Bay)
Nicole Garcia for Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon)
Best Actress
Judith Chemla in Une Vie (A Woman's Life)
Marion Cotillard in Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon)
Virginie Efira in Victoria
Marina Foïs in Irréprochable
Isabelle Huppert in Elle
Sidse Babett Knudsen in La fille de Brest
Soko in La Danseuse (The Dancer)
Best Supporting Actress
Nathalie Baye in Juste la fin du monde (It's Only the End of the World)
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in Ma Loute (Slack Bay)
Anne Consigny in Elle
Déborah Lukumuena in Divines
Mélanie Thierry in La Danseuse (The Dancer)
Most Promising Actress
Oulaya Amamra in Divines
Paula Beer in Frantz
Lily-Rose Depp in La Danseuse (The Dancer)
Noemie Merlant in Le Ciel Attendra (Heaven Will Wait)
Raph in Ma Loute (Slack Bay)
Best Actor
François Cluzet in Médecin de campagne (Irreplaceable)
Pierre Deladonchamps in Le Fils de Jean (A Kid)
Nicolas Duvauchelle in Je ne suis pas un salaud (A Decent Man)
Fabrice Luchini in Ma Loute (Slack Bay)
Pierre Niney in Frantz
Omar Sy in Chocolat
Gaspard Ulliel in Juste la fin du monde (It's Only the End of the World)
Best Supporting Actor
Gabriel Arcand pour Le fils de Jean (A Kid)
Vincent Cassel pour ;Juste la fin du monde (It's Only the End of the World)
Vincent Lacoste pour Victoria
Laurent Laffite pour Elle
Melvil Poupaud pourVictoria
James Thierrée pour Chocolat
Most Promising Actor
Jonas Bloquet in Elle
Damien Bonnard in Rester vertical (Staying Vertical)
Corentin Fila in Quand on a 17 ans (Being 17)
Kacey Mottet Klein in Quand on a 17 ans (Being 17)
Nils Schneider in Diamant Noir (Dark Diamond)
Best Original Screenplay
Romain Compingt, Houda Benyamina, and Malik Rumeau for Divines
Solveig Anspach, Jean-Luc Gaget for L'effet aquatique (The Aquatic Effect)
Sabrina B. Karine, Alice Vial, Pascal Bonitzer, and Anne Fontaine for Les Innocentes (The Innocents)
Bruno Dumont for Ma Loute (Slack Bay)
Justine Triet for Victoria
Best Adaptation
David Birke for Elle
Séverine Bosschem, Emmanuelle Bercot for La fille de Brest
François Ozon for Frantz
Céline Sciamma for Ma vie de Cougette (My Life as a Zuchinni)
Nicole Garcia and Jacques Fieschi for Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon)
Katell Quillévéré and Gilles Taurand for Réparer les vivants (Heal the Living)
Best Cinematography
Stéphane Fontaine for Elle
Pascal Marti for Frantz
Caroline Champetier for Les Innocentes (The Innocents)
Guillaume Deffontaines for Ma Loute (Slack Bay)
Christophe Beaucarne for Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon)
Best Editing
Loic Lallemand and Vincent Tricon for Divines
Job ter Burg for Elle
Laure Gardette for Frantz
Xavier Dolan for Juste la fin du monde (It's Only the End of the World)
Simon Jacquet for Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon)
Best Original Score
Gabriel Yared for Chocolat
Ibrahim Malouf for Dans les forêts de Sibérie (In the Forests of Siberia)
Anne Dudley for Elle
Philippe Rombi for Frantz
Sophie Hunger for Ma vie de Cougette (My Life as a Zuchinni)
Best Sound
Brigitte Taillandier, Vincent Guillon, and Stéphane Thiébaut for Chocolat
Jean-Paul Mugel, Alexis Place, Cyril Holtz, and Damien Lazzerini for Elle
Martin Boisseau, Benoît Gargonne, and Jean-Paul Hurier for Frantz
Jean-Pierre Duret, Sylvain Malbrant, and Jean-Pierre Laforce for Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon)
Marc Engels, Fred Demolder, Sylvain Réty, and Jean-Paul Hurier for L'Odyssée (The Odyssey)
Best Costumes
Anaïs Romand for La danseuse (The Dancer)
Pascaline Chavanne for Frantz
Catherine Leterrier for Mal de pierres (From the Land of the Moon)
Alexandra Charles for Ma Loute (Slack Bay)
Madeline Fontaine for Une Vie (A Woman's Life)
Best Production Design
Jérémie D. Lignol for Chocolat
Carlos Conti for La danseuse (The Dancer)
Michel Barthélémy for Frantz
Riton Dupire-Clément for Ma Loute (Slack Bay)
Katia Wyszkop pour Planetarium
Best Animated Short
Café froid, François Leroy and Stéphanie Lansaque
Celui qui a deux âmes (He Who Has Two Souls), Fabrice Luang-Vija
Journal animé, Donato Sansone
Peripheria, David Coquard-Dassault
Best Short Film
Après Suzanne, Felix Moati
Au Bruit des clochettes, Chabname Zariab
Chasse royale , Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret
Maman(s), Maïmouna Doucouré
Vers la Tendresse, Alice Diop
The awards ceremony will be on February 24 at Salle Pleyel, Jérôme Commandeur is the host and will be broadcast live by Canal +. All nominated films will be screened at cinémas Le Balzac and the 3 Luxembourg in Paris. Now the 4,287 active members will have to vote their selections.