“The Animal Kingdom” and “Anatomy of a Fall” are favorites, with 12 and 11 nominations respectively

Justine Triet’s film was also nominated five times for the Oscars.

A competition that promises to be tight. The Animal Kingdom by Thomas Cailley obtained the most nominations for the 2024 César Awards, Wednesday January 24, with a presence in twelve categories. It is closely followed by the film by Justine Triet Anatomy of a fallselected eleven times – a new tour de force the day after the nominations at the Oscars. The film by Jeanne Herry, I will always see your faces, is selected nine times. The 49th César ceremony will take place on February 23 at L’Olympia, chaired by Valérie Lermercier.

Three directors, including Justine Triet, are nominated in the “best director” category. The Césars are spared the controversy of last year, when no woman was nominated in the “best director” category. Justine Triet is on track to become in February the second director in the history of French cinema to be crowned, after Tonie Marshall for Venus Beauty (institute)… in 2000.

Leaders and surprises

Anatomy of a fall has already enabled Justine Triet to become, at 45 years old, the third director in history to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, figures prominently in the votes of the 4,705 professionals of the 7th art who make up the Academy. In 2 hours 32 minutes, it recounts the trial of a woman, accused of having killed her husband, with the couple’s visually impaired boy and their dog as the only witnesses. The interpreter of the role, the German Sandra Hüller, is nominated for the César for best actress.

The Animal Kingdom, a fantastic film by Thomas Cailley in the spotlight for this edition of the Césars, won over audiences and critics. Romain Duris, nominated for the César for best actor, and Paul Kircher play a father and son who find themselves in a near future where humans have begun to mutate into animal creatures. The Goldman Trial by Cédric Kahn received eight nominations including the “best film” category. Actor Arieh Worthalter slips into the shoes of far-left activist Pierre Goldman.

On the “best film” side, a first feature film, Dog of the breakage by Jean-Baptiste Durand, 38 years old, creates a surprise by qualifying. This work, which has seven nominations in total, features Anthony Bajon and a newcomer, Raphaël Quenard, 32 years old. This confirms his unique status: he is not only nominated in the “male revelation” category for this film but also propelled into the “best actor” category for his role in the comedy Yannick by Quentin Dupieux. He will be in competition with Benjamin Lavernhe and Melvil Poupaud.

Theatrical popularity offers no guarantee

Popularity in theaters offers no guarantees. No nominations for the biggest hits of the year: Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom and comedy Alibi.com 2. The consent directed by Vanessa Filho and inspired by the Matzneff affair, only received two nominations. The film, with Jean-Paul Rouve and Kim Higelin, was a hit with teenagers thanks to social networks. The film The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan still managed to make a breakthrough by landing six nominations.

Academy members will have one month to vote, before the ceremony takes place. Honorary Césars will be awarded to actress and director Agnès Jaoui and American-British filmmaker Christopher Nolan. The evening will be a baptism of fire for the new Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati. It is often the occasion for political or social demands: Roselyne Bachelot, another former Sarkozyist who became Emmanuel Macron’s Minister of Culture during his first five-year term, never digested the reception that was reserved for her at the César in 2021 .”We could expect from the world of cinema, stuffed with public money, in the absence of recognition – let’s not ask for the impossible! – at least a brief and courteous greeting to the representative of the State during this demonstration“, she scathed in a book taking stock of her time on rue de Valois from 2020 to 2022.

Find all the nominations below: