Jacques Audiard swept the board at the 50th Césars on Friday evening winning Best Director and Film for Emilia Pérez against expectations after its award season campaign was derailed by the uncovering of racist tweets by its star Karla Sofía Gascón.
Audiard’s Oscar hopeful also clinched Best Adapted Screenplay, Sound, Original Music, Special Effects and Cinematography.
The Count of Monte Cristo, which went into the ceremony as the hot favourite with 14 nominations, won Best Production Design and Costume.
Gilles Lellouche’s star-crossed romance Beating Hearts won Best Supporting Actor for Alan Chabat.
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The big surprises of the evening was Boris Lojkine’s asylum seeker tale Souleymane’s Story, which walked away with four Césars.
The 50th ceremony was presided over by Catherine Deneuve who attended the inaugural edition in 1976 as a nominee and since won two Best Actress Césars for The Last Metro and Indochine.
Speaking just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s fiery White House meeting with U.S. president Donald Trump and vice-president JD Vance, a defiant Deneuve appeared on stage sporting a Ukrainian flag pin and dedicated the 50th ceremony to Ukraine.
There were honorary Césars for Julia Roberts and Costa-Gavras.
The 2025 Winners in bold
Best Film
- The Count of Monte Cristo
- Emilia Pérez
- The Marching Band
- Souleymane’s Story
- Misericordia
Best Director
- Gilles Lellouche for Beating Hearts
- Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière for The Count Of Monte Cristo
- Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez
- Boris Lojkine for Souleymane’s Story
- Alain Guiraudie for Misericordia
Best Original Screenplay
- Stéphane Demoustier for Borgo
- Emmanuel Courcol and Irène Muscari for The Marching Band
- Boris Lojkine et Delphine Agut for Souleymane’s Story
- Alain Guiraudie for Misericordia
- Louise Courvoisier and Théo Abadie for Holy Cow
Best Adapted Screenplay
- Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière for The Count Of Monte-Cristo
- Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez
- Michel Hazanavicius and Jean-Claude Grumberg for The Most Precious Of Cargoes
Best Actress
- Adèle Exarchopoulos for Beating Hearts
- Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez
- Hafsia Herzi for Borgo
- Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez
- Hélène Vincent for When Fall Is Coming
Best Actor
- François Civil for Beating Hearts
- Benjamin Lavernhe for The Marching Band
- Karim Leklou for Jim’s Story
- Pierre Niney for The Count of Monte-Cristo
- Tahar Rahim for Monsieur Aznavour
Best Supporting Actress
- Élodie Bouchez for Beating Hearts
- Anaïs Demoustier for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Catherine Frot for Misericordia
- Nina Meurisse for Souleymane’s Story
- Sarah Suco for The Marching Band
Best Supporting Actor
- David Alaya for Misericordia
- Bastien Bouillon for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Alain Chabat for Beating Hearts
- Jacques Develay for Misericordia
- Laurent Lafitte for The Count of Monte Cristo
Female Revelation
- Maïwène Barthelemy for Holy Cow
- Malou Khebizi for Wild Diamond
- Megan Northam for Rabia
- Mallory Wanecque for Beating Hearts
- Souheila Yacoub for Planet B
Male Revelation
- Abou Sangare for Souleymane’s Story
- Adam Bessa for Ghost Trail
- Malik Frikah for Beating Hearts
- Félix Kysil for Misericordia
- Pierre Lottin for The Marching Band
Best Animated Feature
- Flow by Gint Zilbalodis
- The Most Precious of Cargoes by Michel Hazanavicius
- Savages by Claude Barras
Best Documentary
- The Belle from Gaza by Yolande Zauberman.
- Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soualem
- Dahomey by Mati Diop
- Ernest Cole: Lost and Found by Raoul Peck
- The Bertrand’s Farm by Gilles Perret
- Madame Hofmann by Sébastien Lifshitz
Best First Film
- Wild Diamond by Agathe Riedinger
- Ghost Trail by Jonathan Millet
- The Kingdom by Julien Colonna
- A Little Something Extra by Artus
- Holy Cow by Louise Courvoisier
Best Foreign Film
- Anora by Sean Baker
- The Seed of The Sacred Fig Tree by Mohammad Rasoulof
- The Apprentice by Ali Abbasi
- The Substance by Coralie Fargeat
- The Zone Of Interest by Jonathan Glazer
Best Sound
- Cédric Deloche, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Jon Goc and Marc Doisne for Beating Hearts
- David Rit, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Olivier Touche, Laure-Anne Darras, Marion Papinot, Marc Doisne and Samuel Delorme for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta for Emilia Pérez
- Pascal Armant, Sandy Notarianni and Niels Barletta for The Marching Band
- Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak and Samuel Aïchoun for Souleymane’s Story
Cinematography
- Laurent Tangy for Beating Hearts
- Nicolas Bolduc for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Paul Guilhaume for Emilia Pérez
- Tristan Galand for Souleymane’s Story
- Claire Mathon for Misericordia
Best Editing
- Simon Jacquet for Beating Hearts
- Célia Lafitedupont for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Juliette Welfling for Emilia Pérez
- Guerric Catala for The Marching Band
- Xavier Sirven for Souleymane’s Story
Best Costumes
- Isabelle Pannetier for Beating Hearts
- Thierry Delettre for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Virginie Montel for Emilia Pérez
- Isabelle Mathieu for Monsieur Aznavour
- Anaïs Romand for The Divine Sarah Bernhardt
Best Production Design
- Jean-Philippe Moreau for Beating Hearts
- Stéphane Taillasson for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Emmanuelle Duplay for Emilia Pérez
- Stéphane Rozenbaum for Monsieur Aznavour
- Olivier Radot for The Divine Sarah Bernhardt
Best Special Effects
- Cédric Fayolle, Hugues Namur and Émilien Lazaron for The Beast
- Olivier Cauwet for The Count of Monte Cristo
- Cédric Fayolle for Emilia Pérez
- Stéphane Dittoo for Monsieur Aznavour
Best Short Animation
- Beurk! by Loïc Espuche
- Gigi by Cynthia Calvi
- Papillon by Florence Miailhe
Best Short Documentary
- Southern Brides by Elena López Riera
- Little Spartacus by Sara Ganem
- A Heart and Other Lost Dreams of Beirut, Maya Abdul-Malak
Best Short Fiction
- Clamor by Salomé Da Souza
- Ce qui appartient à César by Violette Gitton
- The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent by Nebojša Slijepčević
- Queen Size by Alice Besson
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