Emmanuel Mouret’s ‘Love Affairs’ Leads France’s Cesar Nominations

Elsa Keslassy
·6 min read
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Emmanuel Mouret’s “Love Affairs” (The Things We Say, The Things We Do) is leading the nominations for the Cesar Awards, France’s top film honors. Nominations were announced online on Wednesday.

The film, which was part of Cannes 2020’s official selection, weaves together a series of romantic tales exploring love, friendship and infidelity with an ensemble cast including Camelia Jordana, Niels Schneider, Vincent Macaigne and Julia Piaton. “Love Affairs” earned 13 awards nominations, including for best film, director, as well as nods for Jordana, Schneider, Macaigne and Piaton. The film previously won best film at the Lumieres Awards.

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Meanwhile, Albert Dupontel’s “Bye Bye Morons” and Francois Ozon’s “Summer of 85” are each nominated for 12 Cesar Awards, including best film and best director. A dark comedy, “Bye Bye Morons” stars Virginie Efira as a seriously ill woman on a mission to reunite with her long-lost child with the help of a man who’s having a burnout. Efira, Dupontel (who also stars) and Nicolas Marié are nominated for best actress, actor and supporting actor, respectively.

“Summer of 85,” a highlight of Cannes 2020’s official selection, is a sensual coming-of-age film about two teenagers who fall in love over the course of a summer. The film’s Felix Lefebvre and Benjamin Voisin earned a Cesar nomination each for best male newcomers, along with Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, who is nominated for best supporting actress.

Another strong contender at this year’s Cesar Awards is Caroline Vignal’s “My Donkey, My Lover and I” with eight nominations, including best actress for Laure Calamy (“Call My Agent!), supporting actor for Benjamin Lavernhe, and original screenplay for Vignal. The comedy follows Calamy as she embarks on a road trip across the French mountains with a donkey on the trail of her married lover and his family.

Filippo Meneghetti’s romance “Two of Us” — which represents France in the international feature film race at the Oscars and is part of the 15 films shortlisted — is nominated for four Cesar Awards.

The feature debut follows Nina and Madeleine, two pensioners who have hidden their deep and passionate love for many decades and see their bond put to the test when they are suddenly unable to move in together. The film’s acting duo, Martine Chevallier and Barbara Sukowa, are both nominated.

The best director category only includes one female helmer, Maiween for “DNA.” The family melodrama explores the director-actor’s own Algerian heritage. Maiwenn headlines the film along with Fanny Ardant, Louis Garrel, Dylan Robert and Marine Vacth. Ardant and Garrel earned nominations for best supporting actress and supporting actor, respectively.

A rarity in France’s Cesar history, a documentary made it into the best film category – “Adolescents,” directed by Sebastien Lifshitz. The director-driven documentary charts the friendship between two girls through the years.

Another notable fact is the presence of two Black filmmakers, Maimouna Doucouré with “Cuties” and Jean-Pascal Zadi with “Tout Simplement Noir,” in the best first film category. Zadi, who stars in his film as a struggling Black actor trying to organize a protest for Black people in France, is nominated for best male newcomer. “Cuties” is also nominated for best female newcomer for Fathia Youssouf.

This year’s Cesar Awards will mark the first edition under the new leadership of Veronique Cayla, who previously headed Franco-German public culture channel Arte France, and Eric Toledano, the popular co-director of smash-hit “The Intouchables.”

The Cesar Awards also boasts a new administration board, which includes 42 reps from 21 different fields within the film industry, from actors to crew members, screenwriters, directors and producers with gender parity applied to every branch.

The French film institution reformed its operating model and corporate leadership last year to become more inclusive after facing a massive backlash due to its alleged opaque practices and boys’ club atmosphere.

The César Awards ceremony is set to take place on March 12 at the Olympia theater in Paris with popular actress Marina Fois on board as emcee.

Here is the list of nominations:

BEST FILM
“Bye Bye Morons,” Albert Dupontel
“Adolescents,” Sébastien Lifshitz
“My Donkey, My Lover & I,” Caroline Vignal
“Love Affairs,” Emmanuel Mouret
“Summer of 85,” François Ozon

BEST DIRECTOR
Albert Dupontel, “Bye Bye Morons”
Maîwenn, “DNA”
Sébastien Lifshitz, “Adolescents”
Emmanuel Mouret, “Love Affairs”
François Ozon, “Summer of 85”

BEST FIRST FILM
“Two Of Us,” Filippo Meneghetti
“Garçon Chiffon,” Nicolas Maury
“Cuties,” Maïmouna Doucouré
“Tout Simplement Noir,” Jean-Pascal Zadi
“Un Divan a Tunis,” Manele Labidi

BEST ACTRESS
Laure Calamy, “My Donkey, My Lover & I”
Martine Chevallier, “Two of Us”
Virginie Efira, “Bye Bye Morons”
Camélia Jordana, “Love Affairs”
Barbara Sukowa, “Two of Us”

BEST ACTOR
Sami Bouajila, “A Son”
Jonathan Cohen, “Enorme”
Albert Dupontel, “Bye Bye Morons”
Niels Schneider, “Love Affairs”
Lambert Wilson, “De Gaulle”

BEST FOREIGN FILM
“1917,” Sam Mendes
“Corpus Christi,” Jan Komasa
“Dark Waters,” Todd Haynes
“Another Round,” Thomas Vinterberg
“The August Virgin,” Jonas Trueba

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Fanny Ardant, “DNA”
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, “Summer of 85”
Emilie Dequenne, “Love Affairs”
Noémie Lvovsky, “How to Be a Good Wife”
Yolande Moreau, “How to Be a Good Wife”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Edouard Baer, “How to Be a Good Wife”
Louis Garrel, “DNA”
Benjamin Lavernhe, “My Donkey, My Lover & I”
Vincent Macaigne, “Love Affairs”
Nicolas Mairé, “Bye Bye Morons”

BEST FEMALE NEWCOMER
Mélissa Guers, “La Fille Au Bracelet”
India Hair, “Poissonsexe”
Julia Piaton, “Love Affairs”
Camille Rutherford, “Felicità”
Fathia Youssouf, “Cuties”

BEST MALE NEWCOMER
Guang Huo, “La Nuit Venue”
Félix Lefebvre, “Summer of 85”
Benjamin Voisin, “Summer of 85”
Alexandre Wetter, “Miss”
Jean-Pascal Zadi, “Tout Simplement Noir””

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Albert Dupontel, “Bye Bye Morons”
Caroline Vignal, “My Donkey, My Lover & I”
Emmanuel Mouret, “Love Affairs”
Filippo Meneghetti, Malysone Bovorashy, “Two of Us”
Benoît Delépine & Gustave Kerven, “Effacer L’Historique”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Olivier Assayas, “Wasp Network”
Hannelore Cayre, Jean-Paul Salomé, “Mamma Weed”
François Ozon, “Summer of 85”
Stéphanie Demoustier, “La Fille Au Bracelet”
Eric Barbier, “Petit Pays”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Alexis Kavyrchine, “Bye Bye Morons”
Antoine Parouty, Paul Guilhaume, “Adolescents”
Simon Beaufils, “My Donkey, My Lover & I”
Laurent Desmet, “Love Affairs”
Hichame Alaouié, “Summer of 85”

BEST EDITING
Christophe Pinel, “Bye Bye Morons”
Tina Baz, “Adolescents”
Annette Dutertre, “My Donkey, My Lover & I”
Marital Salomon, “Les Choses Qu’On Dit, Les Choses Qu’On Fait”
Laure Gardette, “Summer of 85”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Mimi Lempicka, “Bye Bye Morons”
Madeline Fontaine, “How to Be a Good Wife”
Hélène Davoudian, “Love Affairs”
Anaïs Romand & Sergio Ballo, “De Gaulle”
Pascaline Chavanne, “Summer of 85”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Carlos Conti, “Bye Bye Morons”
Thierry François, “How to Be a Good Wife”
David Faivre, “Love Affairs”
Nicolas De Boiscuillé, “De Gaulle”
Benoît Barouh, “Summer of 85”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“Calamity, Une Enfance De Martha Jane Cannary,” Rémi Chayé
“Josep,” Aurel
“Little Vampire,” Joann Sfar

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Adolescents,” Sébastien Lifshitz
“La Cravate,” Etienne Chaillou, Mathias Théry
“Cyrille Agriculteur, 30 Ans, 20 Vaches, Du Lait, Du Beurre, Des Dettes,” Rodolphe Marconi
“Histoire D’Un Regard,” Mariana Otero
“Un Pays Qui Se Tient Sage,” David Du Fresne

BEST SCORE
Christophe Julien, “Bye Bye Morons”
Stephen Warbeck, “DNA”
Mateï Bratescot, “My Donkey, My Lover & I”
Jean-Benoït Dunckel, “Summer of 85”
Rone, “La Nuit Venue”

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