‘The Count Of Monte Cristo’ Leads Nominations For France’s Césars
The Count of Monte Cristo has topped the nominations for France’s prestigious César awards, followed by Beating Hearts and Oscar frontrunner Emilia Pérez.
The film has made it into 14 categories in the nominations, which were announced in Paris on Wednesday morning. Beating Hearts clinched 13, followed by Emiia Pérez with 12.
Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patelliere’s lavish and fast-paced adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel starring Pierre Niney was one of France’s top performing movies at the local box office in 2024, drawing close to 10M spectators and its top international export.
Gilles Lellouche’s modern Romeo and Juliet tale Beating Hearts – co-starring François Civil and Adèle Exarchopoulos – has also performed well at home, drawing more than five million spectators.
The 12 nominations for Jacques Audiard’s Cannes Jury prize-winning musical film Emilia Pérez continues its buzzy awards season run which has seen it clinch four Golden Globes and triumph at the European Film Awards, and lead the 2025 Oscar race with 13 nominations.
Other frontrunners include Boris Lojkine’s Souleymane’s Story, which won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize this year, and Alain Guiraudie’s Misericordia, with eight nominations each, followed by film good movie The Marching Band, which has enjoyed a strong box office run over the Christmas period and into the new year.
The Best Foreign-Language Film category delivered nominations for Anora, The Seed of The Sacred Fig Tree, The Apprentice, The Substance and The Zone of Interest.
A total of 626 films are eligible for the French cinema focused awards this year, with 4,951 members invited to vote in the first round, running from January 2 to 28. A second round of voting runs from February 5 to 28.
The ceremony will take place at the l’Olympia concert hall in Paris on February 28. Catherine Deneuve will preside over the ceremony overseen by director Cédric Klapisch with presenters including Jean-Pascal Zadi, Emmanuelle Béart, Ludivine Sagnier and Justine Triet.
Best Film
- The Count of Monte Cristo
- Emilia Pérez
- The Marching Band
- Souleymane’s Story
- Misericordia
Best Director
- Gilles Lellouche for Beating Hearts
- Matthieu Delaporte and 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
Best Supporting Actress
- Élodie Bouchez for Beating Hearts
- Anaïs Demoustier for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Catherine Frot for Misericordia
- Nina Meurisse for Souleymane’s Story
- Sarah Suco for The Marching Band
Best Supporting Actor
- David Alaya for Misericordia
- Bastien Bouillon for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Alain Chabat for Beating Hearts
- Jacques Develay for Misericordia
- Laurent Lafitte for The Count of Monte Cristo
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 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
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 Sound
- Cédric Deloche, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Jon Goc and Marc Doisne for Beating Hearts
- David Rit, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Olivier Touche, Laure-Anne Darras, Marion Papinot, Marc Doisne and Samuel Delorme for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta for Emilia Pérez
- Pascal Armant, Sandy Notarianni and Niels Barletta for The Marching Band
- Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak and Samuel Aïchoun for Souleymane’s Story
Cinematography
- Laurent Tangy for Beating Hearts
- Nicolas Bolduc for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Paul Guilhaume for Emilia Pérez
- Tristan Galand for Souleymane’s Story
- Claire Mathon for Misericordia
Best Editing
- Simon Jacquet for Beating Hearts
- Célia Lafitedupont for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Juliette Welfling for Emilia Pérez
- Guerric Catala for The Marching Band
- Xavier Sirven for Souleymane’s Story
Best Costumes
- Isabelle Pannetier for Beating Hearts
- Thierry Delettre for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Virginie Montel for Emilia Pérez
- Isabelle Mathieu for Monsieur Aznavour
- Anaïs Romand for The Divine Sarah Bernhardt
Best Production Design
- Jean-Philippe Moreau for Beating Hearts
- Stéphane Taillasson for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Emmanuelle Duplay for Emilia Pérez
- Stéphane Rozenbaum for Monsieur Aznavour
- Olivier Radot for The Divine Sarah Bernhardt
Best Special Effects
- Cédric Fayolle, Hugues Namur and Émilien Lazaron for The Beast
- Olivier Cauwet for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Cédric Fayolle for Emilia Pérez
- Stéphane Dittoo for Monsieur Aznavour
Best Short Animation
- Beurk! by Loïc Espuche
- Gigi by Cynthia Calvi
- Papillon by Florence Miailhe
Best Short Documentary
- Southern Brides by Elena López Riera
- Little Spartacus by Sara Ganem
- A Heart and Other Lost Dreams of Beirut, Maya Abdul-Malak
Best Short Fiction
- Clamor by Salomé Da Souza
- Ce qui appartient à César by Violette Gitton
- The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent by Nebojša Slijepčević
- Queen Size by Alice Besson
