The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Source: Cannes Film Festival

‘The Count Of Monte-Cristo’

Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre De La Patelliere’s epic literary adaptation The Count Of Monte-Cristo leads the nominations for France’s Cesar Awards with 14.

There were also strong showings from Gilles Lellouche’s Beating Hearts with 13 and Jacques Audiard’s Oscar and Bafta-nominated Emilia Perez with 12.

Scroll down for the full list of nominations

The Count Of Monte-Cristo and Emilia Perez are in the running for best film alongside Boris Lojkine’s Souleymane’s Story, Alain Guiraudie’s Misericordia and Emmanuel Courcol’s The Marching Band.

All of the films nominated for best film had their world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024.

Although Gilles Lellouche’s musical romance Beating Hearts, another box office triumph with 5 million admissions, was not nominated for best film,  the filmmaker secured a best director nomination alongside Delporte and De La Patelliere, Audiard, Lojkine and Guiraudie.

Notably absent from both best film and best director are any female filmmakers.

Coralie Fargeat was nominated for her body horror The Substance in the best foreign film category, the only category for which the English-language title produced by the UK’s Working Title Films was eligible.

The other  foreign film nominees are Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice, Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone Of Interest, and Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winner Anora.

Emilia Perez stars Karla Sofia Gascon and Zoe Saldana will face off in the best actress category with Adele Exarchopoulos for Beating Hearts, Hafsia Herzi in Borgo and Helene Vincent in Francois Ozon’s When Fall is Coming.

The Count of Monte-Cristo has been a commercial success in France with nearly 10 million admissions since its June 2024 release. The year’s top film at the local box office A Little Something Extra that has sold some 10.8 million tickets earned only a nomination for its director Artus in the best film category. 

France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques, which oversees the prestigious awards, said that the participation rate for first round voting was 71.4%, or 3,535 votes.

Round two of voting opens on Wednesday, February 5 and will run until Friday February 28, just hours before the 50th edition ceremony of the awards that will be held once again at Paris’ L’Olympia theatre.

Catherine Deneuve will preside over the ceremony that will be broadcast live and exclusively on Canal+. Julia Roberts and Costa-Gavras will receive honorary Cesar awards.

The awards will be unveiled in Paris on February 28.

Cesar nominations 2025

Best actress

Adele Exarchopolous, Beating Hearts

Karla Sofia Gascon, Emilia Perez

Hafsia Herzi, Borgo

Zoe Saldana, Emilia Perez

Helene Vincent, When Fall Is Coming

Best actor

Francois Civil, Beating Hearts

Benjamin Lavernhe, The Marching Band

Karim Leklou, Jim’s Story

Pierre Niney, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Tahar Rahim, Monsieur Aznavour

Best supporting actress

Elodie Bouchez, Beating Hearts

Anais Demoustier, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Catherine Frot, Misericordia

Nina Meurisse, Souleymane’s Story

Sarah Suco, The Marching Band

Best supporting actor

David Ayala, Misericordia

Bastien Bouillon, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Alain Chabat, Beating Hearts

Jacques Develay, Misericordia

Laurent Lafitte, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Best female breakthrough

Maiwene Barthelemey, Holy Cow

Malou Khebizi, Wild Diamond

Megan Northam, Rabia

Mallory Wanecque, Beating Hearts

Soheila Yacoub, Planet B

Best male breakthrough

Abou Sangare, Souleymane’s Story

Adam Bessa, Ghost Trail

Malik Frikah, Beating Hearts

Felix Kysyl, Misericordia

Pierre Lottin, The Marching Band

Best original screenplay

Stephanie Demoustier, Borgo

Emmanuel Courcol, Irene Muscari, The Marching Band

Boris Lojkine, Delphine Agut, Souleymane’s Story

Alain Guiraudie, Misericordia

Louise Courvoisier, Theo Abadie, Holy Cow

Best adaptation 

Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de la Patelliere, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Jacques Audiard, Emilia Perez

Michel Hazanavicius, Jean-Claude Grumberg, The Most Precious Of Cargoes

Best original music

Jon Brion, Beating Hearts

Jerome Rebotier, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Clement Ducol, Camille, Emilia Perez

Alexandre Desplat, The Most Precious Of Cargoes

Linda Courvoisier, Charlie Courvoisier, Holy Cow

Best sound

Cedric Deloche, Gwennole Le Borgne, Jon Goc, Marc Doisne, Beating Hearts

David Rit, Gwennole Le Borgne, Olivier Touche, Laure-Anne Darras, Marion Papinot, Marc Doisne, Samuel Delorme, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldere, Cyril Holtz, Niels Barletta, Emilia Perez

Pascal Armant, Sandy Notarianni, Niels Barletta, The Marching Band

Marc-Olivier Brulle, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak, Samuel Aichoun, Souleymane’s Story

Best cinematography

Laurent Tangy, Beating Hearts

Nicolas Bolduc, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Paul Guilhaume, Emilia Perez

Tristan Galand, Souleymane’s Story

Claire Mathon, Misericordia

Best editing

Simon Jacquet, Beating Hearts

Celia Lafitedupont, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Juliette Welfling, Emilia Perez

Guerric Catala, The Marching Band

Xavier Sirven, Souleymane’s Story

Best costumes

Isabelle Pannetier, Beating Hearts

Thierry Delettre, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Virginie Montel, Emilia Perez

Isabelle Mathieu, Monsieur Aznavour

Anais Romand, Sarah Bernhardt, La Divine

Best production design

Jean-Philippe Moreaux, Beating Hearts

Stephane Taillasson, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Emmanuelle Duplay, Emilia Perez

Stephane Rozenbaum, Monsieur Aznavour

Olivier Radot, Sarah Bernhardt, La Divine

Best visual effects

Cedric Gayolle, Hugues Namur, Emilien Lazaron, The Beast

Olivier Cauwet, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Cedric Fayolle, Emilia Perez

Stephane Dittoo, Monsieur Aznavour

Best director

Gilles Lellouche, Beating Hearts

Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre De La Patelliere, The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Jacques Audiard, Emilia Perez

Boris Lojkine, Souleymane’s Story

Alain Guiraudie, Misercordia

Best animated short

Beurk!, dir. Loic Espuche

Gigi, dir. Cynthia Calvi

Papillon, dir. Florence Miailhe

Best documentary short

Southern Brides, dir. Elena Lopez Riera

Petit Spartacus, dir. Sara Ganem

Un Coeur perdu et autres reves de Beyrouth, dir. Maya Abdul-Malak

Best fiction short

Boucan, dir. Salome Da Souza

Ce qui appartient a Cesar, dir. Violette Gitton

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, dir. Nebojsa Slijepcevic

Queen Size, dir. Avril Besson

Best animation

Flow, dir. Gints Zilbalodis

The Most Precious Of Cargoes, dir. Michel Hazanavicius

Savages, dir. Claude Barras

Best documentary

The Belle From Gaza, dir. Yolande Zauberman

Bye Bye Tiberias, dir. Lina Soualem

Dahomey, dir. Mati Diop

Ernest Cole, Lost and Found, dir. Raoul Peck

La Ferme des Bertrand, dir. Gilles Perret

Madame Hofmann, dir. Sebastien Lifshitz

Best debut film

Wild Diamond, dir. Agathe Riedinger

Ghost Trail, dir. Jonathan Millet

The Kingdom, dir. Julien Colonna

A Little Something Extra, dir. Artus

Holy Cow, dir. Louise Courvoisier

Best foreign film

Anora, dir. Sean Baker

The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, dir. Mohammad Rasoulof

The Apprentice, dir. Ali Abbasi

The Substance, dir. Coralie Fargeat

The Zone Of Interest, dir. Jonathan Glazer

Best film

The Count Of Monte-Cristo

Emilia Perez

The Marching Band

Souleymane’s Story

Misericordia