| 45thCésar Awards | |
|---|---|
 Official poster featuring a photo of actressAnna Karina, taken by Georges Dambier in 1959 | |
| Date | 28 February 2020 |
| Site | Salle Pleyel, Paris |
| Hosted by | Florence Foresti |
| Highlights | |
| Best Film | Les Misérables |
| Best Actor | Roschdy Zem Oh Mercy! |
| Best Actress | Anaïs Demoustier Alice and the Mayor |
| Most awards | Les Misérables (4) |
| Most nominations | An Officer and a Spy (12) |
| Television coverage | |
| Network | Canal+ |
The45th César Awards ceremony, presented by theAcadémie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, took place on 28 February 2020, at theSalle Pleyel in Paris to honour the best French films of 2019.Sandrine Kiberlain presided, andFlorence Foresti as the host.
Controversy and protests dogged the Academy in the months running up to the ceremony. The entire board of directors of the César Academy resigned on 13 February 2020,[1] in response to complaints over the opaqueness of the process and the powerlessness of normal Academy members, who do not vote for nor otherwise exercise any control over the leadership of the Academy.[2] The other issue of protest was the 12 nominations received byRoman Polanski'sJ'Accuse (An Officer and a Spy in English), the most nominations of any eligible film. French feminists protested heaping honors on Polanski, whowas convicted of raping a minor in California in 1978 but never served his sentence, and has additionally been accused of other incidents of rape.[3][4][5][6]
The nominees for the 45th César Awards were announced on 29 January 2020.[7][8][9][10]
Les Misérables − Produced by Toufik Ayadi and Christophe Barral; Directed byLadj Ly
| |
Roschdy Zem −Oh Mercy! as Yacoub Daoud
| Anaïs Demoustier −Alice and the Mayor as Alice Heimann
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Swann Arlaud −By the Grace of God as Emmanuel Thomassin
| Fanny Ardant −La Belle Époque as Marianne Drumond
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Alexis Manenti −Les Misérables as Chris
| Lyna Khoudri −Papicha as Nedjma 'Papicha'
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An Officer and a Spy −Roman Polanski andRobert Harris based on thenovel by Robert Harris
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Papicha − Mounia Meddour
| Portrait of a Lady on Fire −Claire Mathon
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Les Misérables − Flora Volpelière
| The Wolf's Call − Nicolas Cantin, Thomas Desjonquères, Raphaëll Mouterde, Olivier Goinard andRandy Thom
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I Lost My Body − Dan Levy
| An Officer and a Spy − Pascaline Chavanne
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La Belle Époque − Stéphane Rozenbaum
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I Lost My Body − Jérémy Clapin
| La nuit des sacs plastiques − Gabriel Harel
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Pile Poil − Lauriane Escaffre and Yvonnick Muller
| Parasite (South Korea) – Directed byBong Joon-ho
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Audience Award (presented byJosiane Balasko)
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Roman Polanski's Best Director win forAn Officer and a Spy was poorly received by the audience. Few clapped, and several audience members walked out in disgust, including Best Director nomineeCéline Sciamma and Best Actress nomineesAdèle Haenel andNoémie Merlant.[11][12]
Polanski as well as other crew members ofAn Officer and a Spy did not attend the ceremony.[5] No one was there to accept the award on Polanski's behalf.[11][13]