On January 29th, local time, the French Film César Awards announced the nomination list. The three-hour epic "The Count of Monte Cristo" received 14 nominations, followed by the crime romance "Mad Love" directed by Gilles Lelouch with 13 nominations. As for this year's Oscar favorite "Emilia Perez", it ranked third with 12 nominations. It is worth mentioning that "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "Heartbeat" are the second and third highest-grossing local films in France in 2024. The 2024 French box office champion "A Little More" only received one nomination for Best Director Debut.
Stills from The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo is adapted from Alexandre de la Batrier and Mathieu de La Porte, a French film co-directed by Alexandre de la Batrier and Mathieu de La Porte. The film has a grand scale, a brisk pace, and exquisite costumes and props. It attracted 9.4 million French audiences throughout the year and was also the best-performing French film in the overseas market in the past year.
In addition, the name of "Zone of Interest" appeared among the films nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the César Awards this year. The film was first screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, and won many awards worldwide in early 2024, including the Oscar for Best International Film and the British Academy Award for Best British Film. However, because the film was not released in France in the second half of 2023, but was not officially released until January 31, 2024, it missed the competition for the last César Awards, but was included in this year's nomination list, which seems a bit abrupt. Competing with it for the Best Foreign Language Film Award are the American films "Anora", "The Apprentice", "The Seeds of the Sacred Fig" and "Something Substance", which won the Cannes Palme d'Or this year.
This year, a total of 626 films are eligible to compete for the César Awards, and 4,951 members of the French Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are invited to participate in the first round of voting from January 2 to January 28. The second round of voting will last from February 5 to February 28. This year's César Awards ceremony will be held at the Olympia Concert Hall in Paris on February 28. French national treasure actress Catherine Deneuve will serve as the chairman of the awards ceremony. The hosts include Jean-Pascal Zadi, Emmanuelle Béart, Ludivine Seigner and director Justine Tellier. This year's Lifetime Achievement Award winners are American actress Julia Roberts and Greek-French director Costa-Gavras.
