Yahoo Lifestyle France’s Cesar Awards Nominations: ‘The Count of Monte Cristo,’ ‘Beating Hearts,’ ‘Emilia Perez’ Lead the Race
“The Count of Monte Cristo,” a three-hour epic adventure adapted from Alexandre Dumas’s literary classic, is leading the race at the Cesar Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, with a whooping 14 nominations. “Beating Hearts,” Gilles Lellouche’s sprawling crime romance, follows shortly with 13 nominations.
A favorite in the Oscar race, Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” is nominated for 12 Cesar Awards, including best film and actress for Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldana. The French awards show has highlighted international performers before, notably Kristen Stewart, who won a Cesar nod in 2015 for her supporting role in Olivier Assayas’ “Cloud of Sils Maria.”
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It’s worth noting that the two Cesar frontrunners — “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “Beating Hearts” — were also France’s second and third highest grossing local films in 2024. Both movies are produced by Mediawan-owned banners, Chapter 2 and Chi-Fou-Mi, respectively. “A Little Something Extra,” a comedy featuring non-professional actors with disabilities which sold nearly 11 million admissions, earned a best first film nomination for Artus, who directed and co-stars in the movie.
Another Oscar contender, Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance,” is nominated for a single Cesar award (for best foreign film), while it’s vying for five Academy Awards. “The Substance” is indeed not eligible in most categories at the Cesar Awards due to the fact that it was mainly produced out of France, by Working Title — which is not the case with “Emilia Perez,” produced by Paris-based Why Not Productions.
Along with “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “Emilia Perez,” the other pics nominated for best film are Boris Lojkine’s “Souleymane’s Story,” Alain Guiraudie’s “Misericordia” and Emmanuel Courcol’s “The Marching Band.”
Ranking as a top Cesar contender among big-budget movies, “Souleymane’s Story” is likely the most timely and politically minded movie of this year’s race. Nominated for eight Cesar Awards, the film stars Abou Sangare as a Guinean immigrant navigating the streets of Paris where he works as a bike courier ahead of his asylum interview. The pic previously won the jury prize and best actor prize at in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.
As with every year, the bulk of movies leading the Cesar race premiered at Cannes, notably “The Count of Monte Cristo,” “Beating Hearts” and “Emilia Perez,” as well as “The Marching Band” and Alain Guiraudie’s “Misericordia,” which is nominated for eight nods alongside “Souleymane’s Story.”
“Monsieur Aznavour,” an ambitious biopic of the French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour, clinched four nominations, including best actor for Tahar Rahim.
Nominated in the best foreign film category alongside “The Substance” is Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning “Anora,” Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice,” Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” (which was not eligible for a Cesar nomination last year due to its French release date) and Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” Walter Salles’s “I’m Still Here” just came out in theaters in France, so it will likely turn up at next year’s Cesar Awards.
The Cesar Awards will take place at the Olympia Concert Hall in Paris on Feb. 28 with Catherine Deneuve serving as president of the ceremony. As previously announced, Julia Roberts will receive an honorary Cesar Award.
See the full list of nominations below.
Best Film
“The Count of Monte Cristo,” produced by Dimitri Rassam, Jerôme Seydoux, directed by Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de la Patelliere
“Emilia Pérez,” produced by Pascal Caucheteux, Jacques Audiard, Valerie Schermann, directed by Jacques Audiard
“The Marching Band, produced by Marc Bordure, Robert Guediguian, directed by Emmanuel Courcol
“Souleymane’s Story,” produced by Bruno Nahon, directed by Boris Lojkine
“Misericordia,” produced by Charles Gillibert, directed by Alain Guiraudie
Best Director
Gilles Lellouche for “Beating Hearts”
Matthieu Delaporte et Alexandre de la Patellière for “The Count Of Monte Cristo”
Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez”
Boris Lojkine for “Souleymane’s Story”
Alain Guiraudie for “Misericordia”
Best Original Screenplay
Stéphane Demoustier for “Borgo”
Emmanuel Courcol and Irène Muscari for “The Marching Band”
Boris Lojkine et Delphine Agut for “Souleymane’s Story”
Alain Guiraudie and “Misericordia”
Louise Courvoisier and Théo Abadie for “Holy Cow”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière for “The Count Of Monte-Cristo”
Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez”
Michel Hazanavicius and Jean-Claude Grumberg for “The Most Precious Of Cargoes”
Best Actress
Adèle Exarchopoulos, “Beating Hearts”
Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”
Hafsia Herzi, “Borgo”
Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”
Hélène Vincent, “When Fall Is Coming”
Best Actor
François Civil for “Beating Hearts”
Benjamin Lavernhe for “The Marching Band”
Karim Leklou for “Jim’s Story”
Pierre Niney for “The Count of Monte-Cristo”
Tahar Rahim for “Monsieur Aznavour”
Female Revelation
Maïwène Barthelemy for “Holy Cow”
Malou Khebizi for “Wild Diamond”
Megan Northam for “Rabia”
Mallory Wanecque for “Beating Hearts”
Souheila Yacoub for “Planet B”
Male Revelation
Abou Sangare for “Souleymane’s Story”
Adam Bessa for “Ghost Trail”
Malik Frikah for “Beating Hearts”
Félix Kysil for “Misericordia”
Pierre Lottin for “The Marching Band”
Best First Film
“Wild Diamond” by Agathe Riedinger
“Ghost Trail” by Jonathan Millet
“The Kingdom” by Julien Colonna
“A Little Something Extra” by Artus
“Holy Cow” by Louise Courvoisier
Best Foreign Film
“Anora” by Sean Baker
“The Seed of The Sacred Fig Tree” by Mohammad Rasoulof
“The Apprentice” by Ali Abbasi
“The Substance” by Coralie Fargeat
“The Zone Of Interest” by Jonathan Glazer
Best Animated Feature
“Flow” by Gint Zilbalodis
“The Most Precious of Cargoes” by Michel Hazanavicius
“Savages” by Claude Barras
Best Documentary
“The Belle from Gaza” by Yolande Zauberman.
“Bye Bye Tiberias” by Lina Soualem
“Dahomey” by Mati Diop
“Ernest Cole: Lost and Found” by Raoul Peck
“The Bertrand’s Farm” by Gilles Perret
“Madame Hofmann” by Sébastien Lifshitz
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