Nominees of the 34th Cesar Awards Unveiled

January 24, 2009 06:53:13 GMT

Sean Penn's 'Into the Wild' and Paul Thomas Anderson's 'There Will Be Blood' nab the 34th Cesar Awards' nominations for foreign film category, while 'Mesrine' collect 10 nods.

Nominees of the 34th Cesar Awards Unveiled

A day following the announcement of the 81st Academy Awards' nominees, the French Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have uncovered their official selections for the 34th Cesar Awards. On Friday, January 23, gangster movie "Mesrine" has been given ten nominations for the France's top awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Jean-Francois Richet.

Apart from the two mentioned gongs, "Mesrine", which is the third highest grossing French film in 2008, also garnered a Best Actor nod for leading actor Vincent Cassel. It also collected two more counts in the category of Adapted Screenplay for Abdel Raouf Dafri and Jean-Francois Richet, and of Cinematography for Robert Gantz.

In the foreign film nominations, Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" were put in competition with Bouli Lanners' "Eldorado", Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra", Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "Lorna's Silence", James Gray's "Two Lovers" and Ari Folman's "Waltz with Bashir". Other than that, Palme d'Or winner and Oscar-nominee "The Class" has nabbed five noms, including Best Picture.

Winners of the 34th Cesar Awards will be announced on February 27. Held in the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, the gala ceremony will be nationally televised in France. Complete list of the awards' nominees can be read at Academie des Cesar.

List of 34th Cesar Awards' Major Nominees:

Motion Picture:

"The Class", Laurent Cantet, director; Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, producers
"I've Loved You So Long", Philippe Claudel, director; Yves Marmion, producer
"Mesrine", Jean-Francois Richet, director; Thomas Langmann, producer
"Paris", Cedric Klapisch, director; Bruno Levy, producer
"The First Day of the Rest of Your Life", Remi Bezancon, director; Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer, Isabelle Grellat, producers
"Seraphine", Martin Provost, director; Gilles Sacuto, Milena Poylo, producers
"Un conte de Noel", Arnaud Desplechin, director; Pascal Caucheteux, producer

Director:

Remi Bezancon, "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"
Laurent Cantet, "The Class"
Arnaud Desplechin, "Un conte de Noel"
Martin Provost, "Seraphine"
Jean-Francois Richet, "Mesrine"

Actor:

Vincent Cassel, "Mesrine"
Francois-Xavier Demaison, "Coluche, l'histoire d'un mec"
Guillaume Depardieu, "Versailles"
Albert Dupontel, "Deux jours a tuer"
Jacques Gamblin, "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"

Actress:

Catherine Frot, "Le crime est notre affaire"
Yolande Moreau, "Seraphine"
Kristin Scott Thomas, "I've Loved You So Long"
Tilda Swinton, "Julia"
Sylvie Testud, "Sagan"

Supporting Actor:

Benjamin Biolay, "Stella"
Claude Rich, "Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera"
Jean-Paul Roussillon, "Un conte de Noel"
Pierre Vaneck, "Deux jours a tuer"
Roschdy Zem, "La fille de Monaco"

Supporting Actress:

Jeanne Balibar, "Sagan"
Anne Consigny, "Un conte de Noel"
Edith Scob, "L'heure d'ete"
Karin Viard, "Paris"
Elsa Zylberstein, "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime"

Original Film:

"Home", Ursula Meier
"I've Loved You So Long", Philippe Claudel
"Mascarades", Lyes Salem
"Pour elle", Fred Cavaye
"Versailles", Pierre Schoeller

Original Screenplay:

Marc Abdelnour, Martin Provost, "Seraphine"
Remi Bezancon, "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"
Dany Boon, Franck Magnier, Alexandre Charlot, "Welcome to the Sticks"
Philippe Claudel, "I've Loved You So Long"
Arnaud Desplechin, Emmanuel Bourdieu, "Un conte de Noel"

Adapted Screenplay:

Eric Assous, Francois d'Epenoux, Jean Becker, "Deux jours a tuer"
Clemence de Bieville, Francois Caviglioli, Nathalie Lafaurie, "Le Crime est notre affaire"
Laurent Cantet, Francois Begaudeau, Robin Campillo, "The Class"
Abdel Raouf Dafri, Jean-Francois Richet, "Mesrine"
Christophe Honore, Gilles Taurand, "La Belle personne"

Cinematography: