César Nominations: Louis Garrel’s ‘The Innocent’ Takes Surprise Lead, Followed By ‘Night Of The 12th’ – Full List

UPDATE: Louis Garrel's The Innocent has taken a surprise lead in the nominations for the 48th César Awards, which were announced on Wednesday ahead of the ceremony at Olympia concert hall in Paris on February 24.

The comedy-drama, which debuted in Cannes, was nominated in 11 categories followed by Dominik Moll's detective drama The Night Of The 12th with 10 nominations.

Albert Serra's Pacifiction and Cedric Klapisch's Rise both snared nominations in nine categories, followed by Forever Young and November with seven each.

Garrel directs and co-stars in The Innocent as a man who tries to derail his mother's relationship with a recently released convict, played by Roschdy Zem, in a campaign that will find him flirting with the wrong side of the law.

The film has received strong reviews and was a hit in France where it drew more than 700,000 spectators, but did not figure among the buzz titles in the French media as one of hot nomination favourites ahead of Wednesday's announcement.

The Night Of The 12th was among the hot favourites having recently triumphed at France's Lumière awards, winning best film and screenplay.

The film, which world premiered in the Cannes Film Festival's non-competitive Cannes Première section, Bastien Bouillon stars as a police detective who becomes obsessed with a case involving a complex female murder victim.

Serra's French Polynesia-set drama Pacifiction has also seen its star rise on the French awards circuit after also triumphing at the Lumière awards, winning Best Director for Serra, Actor for Benoît Magimal and Best Cinematography for Artur Tort. All three are now in the frame for a César.

In the Best Foreign Film Category, three 2023 Oscar nominees made the cut: Best International Film hopefuls Close and EO as well as Triangle Of Sadness , which is nominated for Best Director, Film and Screenplay at the Academy Awards.

Boy From Heaven and The Beasts , which has a strong following in France, also made it into the category.

France's 2023 Oscar submission Saint Omer , which made it to the Academy Awards shortlist but was not nominated on Tuesday, secured four César nominations but not for Best Film or Best Director. It is up for Best Female Newcomer, First Film, Screenplay and Cinematography.

Like the Oscars, it was a poor year for female representation in the top categories of Best Film and Director. Not a single female director made it into the Best Director category, while Forever Young by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi was the only female-directed film to make it into the Best Film category.

Films by female directors generating buzz ahead of the nomination announcement included Alice Winocour's Paris Memories, which got one nomination, and Rebecca Zlotowski's Other People's Children which did not make it into a single category.

Forever Young has been mired in controversy after news broke in December that its young co-star Sofiane Bennacer had been indicted on allegations of rape and violence by four women.

The news prompted the Césars Academy to remove Bennacer from the 2023 edition of its Revelations initiative, showcasing young talent.

Bennacer has denied the charges and Bruni-Tedesch i voiced support for the actor, saying news coverage of the affair was tantamount to a public lynching.

However, the incident prompted the César Academy to introduce a new regulation stating that professionals under formal investigation for violence can no longer participate in the awards.

The César awards are voted on by the 3,000 members of the César Academy spanning all disciplines within the film industry.

The 48th César ceremony will be presided over by Tahar Rahim with support from a host of French cinema figures including Leïla Bekhti, Jérôme Commandeur, Jamel Debbouze, Emmanuelle Devos, Léa Drucker, Eye Haïdara, Alex Lutz, Raphaël Personnaz and Ahmed Sylla.

Other previously announced highlights include a career César for David Fincher, who follows in the wake of Cate Blanchett, Penelope Cruz and Michael Douglas.

The 2023 Nominations

BEST FILM

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST ACTRESS

Fanny Ardant, The Young Lovers

BEST ACTOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BEST FEMALE NEWCOMER

BEST MALE NEWCOMER

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

BEST SOUND

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Pacification

BEST EDITING

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

BEST EDITING

BEST SET DESIGN

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

BEST DEBUT FEATURE

BEST FOREIGN FILM

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

BEST SHORT FILM