The shadow of Judith Godrèche, the predictions and an air of revolution... The challenges of the César ceremony

Will it bring an air of revolution to the 49th Cesar ceremony, which is being held Friday evening at the Olympia? The storm warning applies to the winners as well as to the public in the room or even the demonstrators outside. On the cinema side, the selection for this 2024 vintage celebrates the emergence of a new generation of directors and screenwriters. But their coronation will perhaps not be as serene and as simple as the organizers expect. The great family of French cinema will not be able to ignore the anger of the actresses, led by Judith Godrèche who relaunched a

Faced with calls circulating on social networks asking the Césars to offer a platform to Judith Godrèche, the organizers seem to have given in. According to Le Parisien, the actress will go on stage to give a speech on sexual and gender-based violence in cinema. Contacted by Le Figaro several times in recent days, Canal, which broadcasts the ceremony unencrypted from 8:45 p.m., confirmed neither the presence of the actress nor her speaking. This silence undoubtedly says a lot about the embarrassment of the channel and the Académie des César.

On the networks, the actress also kicked in. “We don't care if I go to the Césars or not. If you only knew how much we don't care. Above all, we want things to change. Let the wolves in disguise come out of the woods. That actresses can contact the CNC without thinking that a man accused of sexual abuse is at its head,” she writes in an allusion to the complaint which targets its president Dominique Boutonnat. The president of the public body overseeing the sector, supposed to work against this violence, was renewed in his position despite a case, not yet judged, of alleged sexual assault on his 21-year-old godson, which he contests.

For the Césars, to sweep under the carpet the rebelliousness of the actresses - who also regret the silence of their male partners - would be to take the risk of being seen as complicit and of sinning among themselves. A capital sin accused of for a long time now by the Caesars. One of the challenges of the evening is above all not to reproduce the catastrophic image of the 2020 edition. Tired of denouncing “the general complacency of the industry towards sexual attackers” since his filing of a complaint in November 2019 against the director Christophe Ruggia who made him suffer several sexual assaults between the ages of 12 and 14, Adèle Haenel left the room when the best director prize was awarded to Roman Polanski. His shrill “Shame!” is still in everyone's memory.

The pressure will be even greater for those responsible for hosting the long evening of cinema around Valérie Lemercier, president of the ceremony. Convinced by the formula tested last year, the organizers renewed the system of a rotating presentation supposed to bring more dynamism and eliminate boredom. Ariane Ascaride, Bérénice Bejo, Dali Benssalah, Juliette Binoche, Dany Boon, Bastien Bouillon, Audrey Diwan, Ana Girardot, Diane Kruger, Benoît Magimel and Nadia Tereszkiewicz will pass the baton on stage. Added to these veterans of the French seventh art are Paul Mirabel and Jean-Pascal Zadi, better known to younger people.

Also read: Lemercier, Magimel, Binoche, Boon... The Césars once again rely on a collegial presentation

The participation of Benoît Magimel and Juliette Binoche does not lack fair play. The actors, ex-spouses, are starring in The Passion of Dodin Bouffant, a culinary fresco by Tran Anh Hùng shunned by the Césars and collateral victim of the imbroglio of French representation at the Oscars. The CNC's committee of seven professionals is the source of much ridicule for having preferred to promote this costume film co-produced by Gaumont over Anatomy of a Fall. In the end, Dodin Bouffant was rejected and Justine Triet's film was nominated in five of the most prestigious categories for the Hollywood ceremony on March 10.

For the César awards, it remains to be seen who will succeed La Nuit du 12 by Dominik Moll, the story of a long-term investigation to find the author of feminicide and crowned best film last year? The Animal Kingdom and Anatomy of a Fall are favorites. Thomas Cailley's fantastic dystopia tops Justine Triet's Palme d'Or by a hair, twelve nominations against eleven. Followed by I Will Always See Your Faces (nine nominations), The Goldman Trial (eight nominations) and Junkyard Dog (seven nominations). This quinté will compete for the best film trophy.

The 4,694 professional members of the Academy have until 16 hours to decide and establish the list of winners. In the first round of voting, which made it possible to nominate the candidates, participation rose to 71.9%.

The majority of contenders for the statuette for best director are women. Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall), Catherine Breillat (Last Summer), Jeanne Herry (I will always see your faces) will face Thomas Cailley, winner of the Louis-Delluc and Lumières prizes for The Animal Kingdom, and Cédric Kahn for The Goldman Trial. The Academy is thus giving itself the maximum chance of breaking a glass ceiling: Tonie Marshall is the only director to have won this prize in the history of the César with Vénus Beauté (Institut) in 2000.

In the best actress category, Sandra Hüller leaves with a head start. The German actress who plays the ambiguous novelist in Anatomy of a Fall faces Marion Cotillard, for the docufiction Little Girl Blue, Léa Drucker for Last Summer, Virginie Efira for Love and the Forests and Hafsia Herzi for The Rapture. Among the actors, Romain Duris as a father who wants to save his wife from a metamorphosis in The Animal Kingdom is put on hold by the astonishing Raphaël Quenard by Yannick (also in the running for revelation and short film).

The supporting male role category will be dominated by the aces of the bar: Swann Arlaud and Antoine Reinartz will replay their duel prosecutor and lawyer from Anatomy of a Fall. They will face their screenwriter, Arthur Harari, who plays Me Georges Kiejman in The Goldman Trial. Among their sisters, the actresses of I will always see your faces occupy four of the five available slots. Choosing between Adèle Exarchopoulos, Leïla Bekhti, Élodie Bouchez and Miou-Miou foreshadows a difficult dilemma.

As for the revelations, the affair will be more family-friendly. Brothers Paul and Simon Kircher, noted in The Animal Kingdom and Last Summer, are in the running, as is the precocious Milo Machado-Graner, a formidable kid plagued by doubt in Anatomy of a Fall.

After inviting Brad Pitt last year, the Césars awarded an honorary award to Christopher Nolan, who, with Oppenheimer, brought the public back to the theater. The Anglo-American director could leave Paris with a second statuette. Its portrayal of the father of the atomic bomb is a serious contender for the title of best foreign film. Agnès Jaoui, great lady of French cinema, will also be honored for her entire career.