Louis Garrel’s “The Innocent” and Dominik Moll’s thriller “The Night of the 12th” are leading the race at the 48th Cesar Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars.
Nominated for 11 Cesar nominations, “The Innocent” is a heist romantic comedy starring Garrel, Roschdy Zem and Noemie Merlant, who previously starred in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and most recently in “Tár.”
Produced by Anne-Dominique Toussaint at Les Films des Tournelles, the crowdpleaser world premiered out of competition at Cannes for the 75th anniversary of the festival.
“The Night of the 12th,” meanwhile, is in the running for 10 Cesar awards.
The brooding topical procedural, which also opened as part of Cannes’ Premiere section, stars Bastien Bouillon and Bouli Lanners as two cops trying to solve a gruesome murder. The movie, produced by Haut et Court (“The Class”), delves into issues of gender and violence.
Other top Cesar contenders include Cedric Klapisch’s dance-filled “Rise,” Albert Serra’s “Pacifiction,” Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s “Forever Young,” Cedric Jimenez’s “November,” Eric Gravel’s “A Plein Temps” and Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer,” among others.
The nominations represent some of 2022’s highest grossing French-language movies, notably “November,” “The Innocent” and “The Night of the 12th.”
Juliette Binoche is vying for best actress for her turn in Emmanuel Carrère’s “Between Two Worlds,” along with Fanny Ardant in Carine Tardieu’s “The Young Lovers,” Laure Calamy in “Full Time,” Virginie Efira in Alice Winocour’s “Revoir Paris” and Adele Exarchopoulos in Emmanuel Marre and Julie Lecoustre’s “Zero Fucks Given.”