“Golden Years,” “Dheepan,” “Mustang” lead Cesar nominations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Xavier Giannoli’s “Marguerite” and Arnaud Desplechin’s “My Golden Years” are leading the nominations at this year’s Cesar awards, along with “Mustang”, Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Oscar-nominated feature debut, and Jacques Audiard’s Palme-d’Or winning “Dheepan”, Variety reports.

The nominations for the 41st Cesar awards were unveiled today (January 27) by Alain Terzian, prexy of the French Academy of Arts and Sciences, during a press conference hosted at the Fouquets restaurant.

Terzian revealed that Michael Douglas will follow Sean Penn’s footsteps and receive the honorary Cesar award. Douglas previously won the honorary Cesar nod in 1998.

Set in the roaring 20s, “Marguerite” stars Catherine Frost as a wealthy woman who embarks on a journey to become an Opera singer in spite of her limited singing talent. Nominated for 11 Cesar nods – best film, actress, director, original screenplay — the pic world premiered at Venice. Fidelite Films produced.

“My Golden Years,” which opened at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, is also nominated for 11 Cesar awards. The ensemble drama turning on Paul (Mathieu Amalric) who thinks back on his early life.

“Dheepan,” meanwhile, is nominated for nine awards, including best film, director and original screenplay for Noe Debré, Thomas Bidegain and Audiard.

Both “My Golden Years” and “Dheepan” are produced by Why Not Productions. “Dheepan” is a tamil-language immigrant drama charting the lives of Sri Lankan refugees who flee their war-torn homeland only to face another kind of war in Paris projects.

Also competing for nine Cesar kudos is “Mustang,” a coming of age tale centering around five sisters struggling to break free from their conservative upbringing in Northern Turkey. Produced by Charles Gillibert’s CG Cinema, the movie has been on a winning path since opening at Directors’ Fortnight. Pic is nominated for best film, directorial debut, director and original screenplay.

Other frontrunners are Emmanuelle Bercot’s “Standing Tall” and Maiwenn’s “Mon Roi” with eight nominations each. Like most Cesar-nominated films, “Mon Roi” and “Standing Tall” opened at Cannes. Produced by Les Films du Kiosque, “Standing Tall” is a drama about the strong bond uniting a juvenile delinquent (Rod Paradot) and a dedicated judge (Catherine Deneuve) opened the festival. Both Paradot and Deneuve are nominated for their roles.

“Mon Roi,” produced by Les Production du Tresor (also behind “Les Cowboys”), is a drama turning on a passion that becomes devastating over the years. Bercot, who won best actress at Cannes, is nominated for a Cesar along with her co-star Vincent Cassel.