Cesar Awards

The Cesar Awards are the most important film and television awards in French cinema, awarded annually by the French Academy of Film Arts and Techniques, since 1976.

Complete List of Cesar Awards (1976 to 2023)

History of the Cesar Awards

In 1975, the French journalist and producer, Georges Cravenne founded the French Academy of Film Arts and Techniques, with the aim of rewarding the achievements and the most notable artistic works of cinema, as well as having a French award equivalent to the Oscars of the United States.

The Cesar Awards were held for the first time on April 3, 1976 at the Théâtre de l'Empire, Paris.

In the beginning, only 13 awards were given. Currently 22 trophies are awarded in different categories. The category of Best Documentary was awarded for the first time in 2007 and Best Animated Film in 2011, winning the film "The Illusionist" by French director Sylvain Chomet.

Statuette of the Cesar Awards

The statuette or trophy was designed in 1975 by the sculptor Georges Cravenne. It consists of a hollow piece of polished bronze 29 cm high, on an 8 cm base. Its weight is 3.6 kg.

Voting process

The selection of nominees for the cesar awards is carried out in accordance with the standards of the French National Film Center (CNC).

Feature films must have a minimum duration of 60 minutes. To participate in the nominations, they must also have been exhibited for at least one week in Paris from January 1 to December 31 of the year prior to the ceremony.

The number of nominees is five for each category, except for the categories of best film, best foreign film, best animated film, best director, best actor and best actress. In these categories, the nominees were increased to seven.

Since the 36th César Awards ceremony, it was established that an actor, director, producer, screenwriter, composer or technician can only be nominated once and for a single work per category, even if they have participated in several eligible films in the same year.

The César Prize of the public has the characteristic of being awarded only to French films.

For the César Honor Award, the winner is chosen by the academy president or secretary general. Therefore, there is no voting procedure.

Voting in the Cesar Awards

Two votes are made by mail, the first is done to choose the nominees and the second to select the winners.

The number of voting members of the Academy is 4509. They are all registered professionals in 10 categories (directors, writers, actors, technicians, producers, distributors, operators, technical industries, casting directors, press officers, artistic agents and associate members).

Unlike the Oscars Awards, in the Cesar Awards there are no restrictions whereby each member votes for the category that concerns them. All voters can elect candidates in all categories.

The ceremony of the Premises Cesar

César Awards ceremonies are generally broadcast on television and take place at the end of February or beginning in March.

Every year a personality is chosen to preside over the ceremony. It can be a director or actor with an outstanding professional career, even of international fame.

The Cesar Awards ceremony has been held in different and majestic venues such as: the Palais des Congrès, the Salle Pleyel, the Empire Theater, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Théâtre du Châtelet.

Controversies

In previous years members of the Academy have been accused of elitism, stating that they consistently reject the tastes of the general public, excluding comedies or blockbusters. For this reason, in 2018 the Audience Award category was created, which rewards the French film with the highest number of audiences in the last year.

Cesar Awards Statistics

Below we present updated reports and statistics of the Cesar Awards, taking into account the editions made from the year 1976 to 2023.

What are the films that have won the most Cesar Awards?

The films that have won the most Cesar awards, between 1976 and 2023 are: Cyrano de Bergerac (10 awards), The Last Metro (10 awards) and A Prophet (9 awards). Here are the 10 films that have won the most Cesar awards:

Which actor has won the most Cesar Awards?

The actors who have won the Cesar award the most times between 1976 and 2023 are: Niels Arestrup (3 awards), Mathieu Amalric (3 awards) and André Dussollier (3 awards).

Actor	Awards
Niels Arestrup	3
Mathieu Amalric	3
André Dussollier	3
Michel Serrault	3
Benoît Magimel	3
Tahar Rahim	2
Gérard Depardieu	2
Sami Bouajila	2
Gaspard Ulliel	2
Gérard Lanvin	2

Which actress has won the most Cesar Awards?

The actresses who have won the Cesar award the most times between 1976 and 2023 are: Isabelle Adjani (5 awards), Nathalie Baye (4 awards) and Dominique Blanc (4 awards).

Actress	Awards
Isabelle Adjani	5
Nathalie Baye	4
Dominique Blanc	4
Julie Depardieu	3
Valérie Lemercier	3
Karin Viard	3
Annie Girardot	3
Marion Cotillard	2
Cécile De France	2
Emmanuelle Devos	2

Which countries have won the most Cesar awards for Best Foreign Film?