Illustration photo – The César Film Awards ceremony at the Olympia concert hall in Paris on March 12, 2021.
Paris – The César French film awards will be presented in Paris tonight. According to the AFP agency, the 48th year of the prestigious competition has two big favorites in the order: the films L'Innocent and La nuit du 12 (loosely translated Twelfth Night). According to her, she also has a problem with “invisibility” in the form of the fact that there are almost no female directors among the nominees. Czech cinematography also has its iron in the fire: the Czech-French-Slovak co-production film by director Michaela Pavlátová Moje slunce Mad won a nomination in the feature-length animated film category.
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Louis Garrel's crime comedy The Innocent collected 11 nominations in the first round of voting, and Dominique Moll's thriller La Nuit du 12 about the investigation of a woman's murder received ten nominations. A possible “dark horse” appears to be the film En corps, shot by director Cédric Klapisch about the recovery of an injured ballet dancer of the Paris Opera. It is a question whether it will bring a surprise like last year's big winner, Lost Illusions by director Xavier Giannoli. In addition to the César for best film, the historical drama also won six other awards, for example for best cinematography or screenplay.
But one thing is certain: no female filmmaker will win the César 2023 for best director. None of them were nominated this year. Even after tonight, Tonie Marshall will remain the only director in the history of French cinema who was able to succeed in this field, with the film Venus, beauty salon – back in 2000.
In addition to Garrel, Klapisch and Moll, there were also nominated Cédric Jimenez and Albert Serra. Directors and screenwriters Alice Winocourová and Rebecca Zlotowská were omitted. In the best film category, the only female director, Valeria Bruniová Tedeschiová, was nominated for Forever Young.
According to AFP, the situation is all the more embarrassing for the Césars, as the French film academy has gone through a deep revival of its ranks in recent years to get rid of reproach that he suffers from “machismo” and self-centered introspection. But former culture minister Roselyne Bachelot last month criticized the “assisted economy” of French film, with direct subsidies, tax breaks and other benefits, which does not care about the tastes of audiences and disdains films intended for the general public.
It is possible that in the midst of disputes over pension reform in France, statements on this topic will also be heard on the gala evening. According to AFP, however, the César award ceremony from last year, full of inappropriate humor, remains a nightmare.
