Out of 632 French short and feature films, the 4,705 members of the Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques selected this year, by secret electronic vote, the works and artists in the running for the César ceremony which takes place This evening. Oddly, none of the competition’s favorite filmmakers made it into the Best Direction category alongside Cédric Klapisch, Dominik Moll, Louis Garrel, Cédric Jimenez and Albert Serra. Alice Diop (Saint Omer), Alice Vinocour (Revoir Paris) and Rebecca Zlotowski (The Children of Others) were rejected. Which is not a good sign for the new team of the Académie des César who, three years ago, promised more parity, the end of machismo and self-segregation.

The 50/50 Collective hastened to declare to Agence France-Presse: “Last year, the Academy of Oscars was criticized for a competition that was too white. This year, too masculine. The Césars 2023 cumulate this double invisibilization. »

Only one director, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, with Les Amandiers – a film which evokes the 1980s in the famous theater school of Nanterre directed by Patrice Chéreau and Pierre Romans – finds a place in the category of best film which moreover rewards more the producer than the director. In front of her, we find the same filmmakers without Cédric Jimenez.

A stroke of luck for Carla Bruni’s sister, whose film appears in six other categories, including “best original screenplay” with Noémie Lvovsky and Agnès de Sacy, “best actor in a supporting role” with Michel Lescot, and “best female hope. with Nadia Tereszkiewicz. But no more Caesar for the best male hope for Sofiane Bennacer, quickly ousted last November after being accused of rape. Without waiting for justice to have time to decide.

For the Academy, this is above all a precautionary principle that applies to everyone. The young actor, companion of Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, who protects him (“I couldn’t have made this film without him”, she says) allegedly behaved inappropriately during filming, behavior denounced by the film crew. movie.

Of course, Valérie Bruni Tedeschi is the direct victim of this case. In the sights of

In fact, no one really wants to defend these infamous Almond Trees for fear of getting blacklisted or unemployed. Will voters validate their first choice or back off? Hard to predict. The fact remains that during the scandal caused in 2020 by the eleven nominations for Polanski’s film J’accuse, the voters did not follow the watchwords of