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AIDS drama leads César nominations

Nods for Campillo, Amalric, Binoche, Auteuil and Bacri

by Richard Mowe

Gilles Lelouch in Best Film nominee C’est La Vie Photo: UniFrance

Sexually graphic AIDS activism drama 120 BPM (Beats Per Minute), by Robin Campillo, which features in the upcoming Glasgow Film Festival, has scooped an amazing 13 nominations (tying a record) in France’s 2018 César award nominations which were announced in Paris earlier today (31 January).

Among the nominations are for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Male Newcomer for its co-stars Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Arnaud Valois, as well as Best Supporting Actor (Antoine Reinartz), Best Supporting Actress (Adele Haenel), Costumes (Isabelle Pannetier), Design (Emmanuelle Duplay), Score (Arnaud Rebotini), Cinematography (Jeanne Lapoirie) and Editing (Campillo).

Jeanne Moreau on the poster for this year’s César ceremony Photo: Academie des Césars

France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations at a news conference at Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs-Elysées.

Although Camillo’s ground-breaking feature was shunned by both the Golden Globes and the Oscars, it won the Grand Prix at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and was a huge success in France both at the box office and with the critics.

Albert Dupontel’s post World War One comedy drama See You Up There, based on a Goncourt prize-winning novel by Pierre Lemaitre, scored 12 nominations; Mathieu Almaric’s homage to fabled singer [film id="31109"]Barbara[/film] found its way into nine categories; and the upbeat wedding comedy-drama C’est La Vie! by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (of Intouchable fame), earned ten nominations. Hubert Charuel’s Bloody Milk, emerged with eight nominations for an outsider rural drama and an unlikely contender.

Julie Ducournau’s gore fest Raw and Mehdi Idir and Grand Corp Malade’s semi-autobiographical Patients, about a group of youngsters rebuilding their lives after life-changing accidents, all received several other nominations besides being in the first film category.

Juliette Binoche was nominated in the best actress category for her performance in Claire Denis’s Let The Sunshine In (also part of Glasgow Film Festival selection) although Denis herself was nowhere to be found in the lists. Binoche’s rivals include Jeanne Balibar, Emmanuelle Devos and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

The new César du Public audience award for the French film with the biggest box office at home was bestowed on Dany Boon’s Raid Special Unit, which attracted some 4.5m spectators.

Among the contenders in the foreign film category are Dunkirk, The Royal Exchange, Loveless and The Square.

Juliette Binoche: Best Actress nomination for Claire Denis’s Let the Sunshine In Photo: UniFrance

The 43rd Cesar ceremony will take place in the Salle Pleyel in Paris on March 2 with actor Manu Payet acting as master of ceremonies and actress and singer Vanessa Paradis as president of the event.

Spanish actress Penélope Cruz will receive an honourary Cesar at the ceremony, following in the wake of George Clooney, Kate Winslett and Michael Douglas.

Stars who had passed away in 2017 including Jeanne Moreau, to whom the event will be dedicated, as well as Mireille Darc, Danielle Darrieux, Claude Rich, Jean Rochefort and Johnny Hallyday will all be remembered at the ceremony.

2018 select nominations:-

Best Film