2 weeks ago
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It’s awards season every day, everywhere, as France’s equivalent to the Oscars, the Césars, unveiled its own ceremony of winners on Thursday evening in Paris. The 51st annual presentation honored the best French films of 2025, with some shout-outs and prizes reserved for far-flung work, like Best Foreign Film winner (what-else-but) Paul Thomas Anderson for “One Battle After Another.”
The show’s top prize went to “L’attachement” (or “The Ties That Bind Us”), Carine Tardieu’s French-Belgian drama that premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. “Nouvelle Vague” led the night’s nominations with 10 nods, winning four. The show was presided over by French actress Camille Cottin (most beloved stateside for her work on “Call My Agent!”), and co-hosted by French actor Benjamin Lavernhe. See the full list of winners below.
A number of Oscar nominees were present and represented among the winning and nominated titles, from “The Secret Agent” and “Sentimental Value” to “Sirāt” — all Best International Feature Academy Award nominees. Ugo Bienvenu’s Oscar-nominated, Hayao Miyazaki-esque, and hand-sketched dystopian fantasy “Arco” won the Best Animated Film César. All these films are Neon releases in North America.
Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague” got its most generous awards season swell, as the American filmmaker’s playful, black-and-white ode to Jean-Luc Godard and the making of “Breathless” naturally clicked with the French voters. Linklater won Best Director among other prizes for the film.
One French-language crossover we’re seeing more and more of stateside these days: Théodore Pellerin, who won Best Male Revelation (as the award translates) for his performance in the 2025 Cannes Critics’ Week drama “Nino” as a young man with a bad case of cancer. He’s not really a newcomer, though. The Québécois actor recently starred in Film Independent Spirit Award winner “Lurker” as the parasocially toxic fan of a Los Angeles pop star, which was widely seen in American arthouses in 2025 (and on top 10 lists). But Pellerin is hardly a newcomer — the famously tall, lithe actor had a number of leading roles, including on the Showtime original series “On Becoming a God in Central Florida,” and across French-Canadian films.
The Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, which selects the César nominees and votes for the winners, boasts more than 4,000 members.
All the nominees and winners are below.
Best Film
“L’attachement”
“Case 137”
“Nouvelle Vague”
“The Little Sister”
“It Was Just an Accident”
Best Director
Carine Tardieu, “L’attachement”
Dominik Moll, “Case 137”
Stéphane Demoustier, “The Great Arch”
Richard Linklater, “Nouvelle Vague”
Hafsia Herzi, “The Little Sister”
Best Actress
Leïla Bekhti, “Ma Mère, Dieu et Sylvie Vartan”
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, “L’attachement”
Léa Drucker, “Case 137”
Isabelle Huppert, “The Richest Woman in the World”
Mélanie Thierry, “La Chambre de Mariana”
Best Actor
Claes Bang, “The Great Arch”
Bastien Bouillon, “Leave One Day”
Laurent Lafitte, “The Richest Woman in the World”
Pio Marmaï, “L’attachement”
Benjamin Voisin, “The Stranger”
Best Supporting Actress
Jeanne Balibar, “Nino”
Dominique Blanc, “Partir Un Jour”
Marina Foïs, “The Richest Woman in the World”
Ji-Min Park, “The Little Sister”
Vimala Pons, “L’attachement”
Best Supporting Actor
Swann Arlaud, “The Great Arch”
Xavier Dolan, “The Great Arch”
Michel Fau, “The Great Arch”
Pierre Lottin, “The Stranger”
Raphaël Personnaz, “The Richest Women in the World”
Best Female Newcomer
Manon Clavel, “Kika”
Suzanne Lindon, “La Venue de l’Avenir”
Nadia Melliti, “The Little Sister”
Camille Rutherford, “Jane Austen a Gâché Ma Vie”
Anja Verderosa, “L’Épreuve du Feu”
Best Male Newcomer
Idir Azougli, “Météors”
Sayyid El Alami, “La Pampa”
Félix Lefebvre, “L’Épreuve du Feu”
Guillaume Marbeck, “Nouvelle Vague”
Théodore Pellerin, “Nino”
Best Original Screenplay
Dominik Moll, Gilles Marchand, “Case 137”
Pauline Loquès, “Nino”
Holly Gent, Vince Palma, “Nouvelle Vague”
Franck Dubosc, Sarah Kaminsky, “How to Make a Killing”
Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just an Accident”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Carine Tardieu, Raphaëlle Moussafir, Agnès Feuvre, “L’attachement”
Stéphane Demoustier, “The Great Arch”
Hafsia Herzi, “The Little Sister”
Best Animated Feature
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”
“Arco”
“My Castle Life: Growing Up in Versailles”
Best Documentary
“The Fifth Shot of La Jetée”
“Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk”
“Ride Away”
“Sarkozy – Gaddafi: the Scandal of Scandals”
“Whispers in the Woods”
Best First Feature Film
“Arco”
“Block Pass”
“Hearts on Fire”
“Leave One Day”
“Nino”
Best International Film
“The Secret Agent,” Kleber Mendonça Filho
“Black Dog,” Guan Hu
“Sirât,” Oliver Laxe
“One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson
“Sentimental Value,” Joachim Trier
Best Original Score
Arnaud Toulon, “Arco”
Olivier Marguerit, “Case 137”
Fatima Al Qadiri, “The Stranger”
Alex Beaupain, “The Richest Woman in the World”
Amine Bouhafa, “The Little Sister”
Best Sound
“Arco”
“Le Chant des Forêts”
“Case 137”
“Nouvelle Vague”
“Leave One Day”
Best Cinematography
Elin Kirschfink, “L’attachement”
Patrick Ghiringhelli, “Case 137”
Marine Atlan, “L’Engloutie”
Manu Dacosse, “The Stranger”
David Chambille, “Nouvelle Vague”
Best Editing
Stan Collet, “13 Jours, 13 Nuits”
Christel Dewynter, “L’attachement”
Laurent Rouan, “Case 137”
Catherine Schwartz, “Nouvelle Vague”
Géraldine Mangenot, “The Little Sister”
Best Costume Design
Céline Guignard, “La Condition”
Corinne Bruand, “Dracula”
Jürgen Doering, “The Richest Woman in the World”
Pascaline Chavanne, “Nouvelle Vague”
Pierre-Yves Gayraud, “La Venue de l’Avenir”
Best Production Design
Jean-Philippe Moreaux, “Dog 51”
Catherine Cosme, “L’Inconnu de la Grande Arche”
Riton Dupire-Clément, “Once Upon My Mother”
Katia Wyszkop, “Nouvelle Vague”
Marie Cheminel, “La Venue de l’Avenir”
Best Visual Effects
Cédric Fayolle, “Dog 51”
Rodolphe Chabrier, Benoît de Longlée, “L’Homme qui Rétrécit”
Lise Fischer, “The Great Arch”
Alain Carsoux, “Nouvelle Vague”
English (US) ·