“A Prophet” Leads Cesars With 13 Nominations

Jacques Audiard’s prison drama “A Prophet” led France’s Cesar Award nominations, taking an impressive 13 nods including best film, best director, and both best actor and most promising male newcomer nominations for the film’s star Tahar Rahim. “A Prophet” joined Xavier Giannoli’s “In The Beginning” (which took 11 nominations itself), Radu Mihaileanu’s “The Concert,” Alain Resnais’s “Wild Grass,” Lucas Belvaux’s “Rapt” and Philippe Lioret’s “Welcome” in the best film category.

Also of note was the Cesar’s best foreign film category, where Oscar favorite “Avatar” will face off against 3 films that were in play last year – “Gran Torino,” “Milk” and “Slumdog Millionaire – as well as Quebec director Xavier Dolan’s “I Killed My Mother,” Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s “A Town Called Panic,” and Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon.”

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The full list of nominations is below:

FILM
“In the Beginning,” Xavier Giannoli, director; Edouard Weil, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, producers
“The Concert,” Radu Mihaileanu, director; Alain Attal, producer
“Wild Grass,” Alain Resnais, director; Jean-Louis Livi, producer ”Skirt Day,” Jean-Paul Lilienfeld, director; Benedicte Lesage, Ariel Askenazi, producers
“Rapt,” Lucas Belvaux, director; Patrick Sobelman, Diana Elbaum, Sebastien Delloye, producers
“A Prophet,” Jacques Audiard, director; Pascal Caucheteux, Gregoire Sorla, Marco Cherqui, producers
“Welcome,” Philippe Lioret, director; Christophe Rossignon, producer

DIRECTOR
Jacques Audiard, “A Prophet”
Lucas Belvaux, “Rapt”
Xavier Giannoli, “In the Beginning”
Philippe Lioret, “Welcome”
Radu Mihaileanu, “The Concert”

ACTOR
Yvan Attal, “Rapt”
Francois Cluzet, “In the Beginning”
Francois Cluzet, “One for the Road”
Vincent Lindon, “Welcome”
Tahar Rahim, “A Prophet”

ACTRESS
Isabelle Adjani, “Skirt Day”
Dominique Blanc, “The Other One”
Sandrine Kiberlain, “Mademoiselle Chambon”
Kristin Scott Thomas, “Leaving”
Audrey Tautou, “Coco Before Chanel”

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE, ACTOR
Firat Ayverdi, “Welcome”
Adel Bencherif, “A Prophet”
Vincent Lacoste, “The French Kissers”
Tahar Rahim, “A Prophet”
Vincent Rottiers, “I’m Glad That My Mother Is Alive”

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE, ACTRESS
Pauline Etienne, “Silent Voices”
Florence Loiret-Caille, “Someone I Loved”
Soko, “In the Beginning”
Christa Theret, “LOL (Laughing Out Loud)”
Melanie Thierry, “One for the Road”

FIRST FILM
“The French Kissers,” Riad Sattouf
“One for the Road,” Philippe Godeau
“Spy(ies),” Nicolas Saada
“La premiere etoile,” Lucien Jean-Baptiste
“Silent Voices,” Lea Fehner

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit, “A Prophet”
Xavier Giannoli, “In the Beginning”
Jean-Paul Lilienfeld, “Skirt Day”
Philippe Lioret, Emmanuel Courco, Olivier Adam, “Welcome”
Radu Mihaileanu, Alain-Michel Blanc, “The Concert”

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Stephane Brize, Florence Vignon, “Mademoiselle Chambon”
Anne Fontaine, Camille Fontaine, “Coco Before Chanel”
Philippe Godeau, Agnes de Sacy, “One for the Road”
Laurent Tirard, Gregoire Vigneron, “Le petit Nicolas”
Alex Reval, Laurent Herbiet, “Wild Grass”

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Christophe Beaucarne, “Coco Before Chanel”
Laurent Dailland, “Welcome”
Stephane Fontaine, “A Prophet”
Eric Gautier, “Wild Grass”
Glynn Speeckaert, “In the Beginning”

FOREIGN FILM
“Avatar,” James Cameron
“Gran Torino, ” Clint Eastwood
“Milk,” Gus Van Sant
“I Killed My Mother,” Xavier Dolan
“A Town Called Panic,” Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar
“The White Ribbon,” Michael Haneke
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Danny Boyle