César Nominations: Gay drama "Summer of 85" Leads
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 2:00PM by Nathaniel R
Summer of '85
Oops. This headline is misleading due to a miscount. The nomination leader at the César's (i.e. the French oscars) is a film called Love Affair(s). But François Ozon's gay coming of age drama Summer of '85, which has a bit of an international profile given its festival run, is not far behind with an impressive 12 nods. Two of us, the lesbian drama and France's Oscar finalist (and Golden Globe nominee) this year, didn't fare as well, receiving only four nominations (two of which are in Best Actress). Because the Oscar calendars were so different than usual this year, none of these films will be eligible for Oscar submission next year from France (usually you get a lot of late year titles from home countries which are submitted the following year to the Oscars but that can't be the case next season due to the extended eligibility peeriod). Hopefully some of these titles will make their way to us here in the US soon.
The César Awards will be held on March 12th this year. If a film has a link it goes to our review or coverage of the film or filmmaker. Here are the nominations. THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH THE WINNERS FROM MARCH 12TH AS WELL INDICATED BY A STAR...
BEST FILM
- Bye Bye Morons ★
A dramedy from actor/director Albert Dupontel about a woman trying to find her long lost child - Adolescentes
This is a documentary taking place over some years about a female friendship - My Donkey, My Lover, and I
A comedy about a woman following her over on his summer holiday with his wife - Love Affair(s)
This one is also known by the more evocative title The Things We Say, The Things We Do. It's a drama about a pregnant woman who is having an affair with her boyfriend's cousin. - Summer of 85
A coming of age romantic gay drama from prolific François Ozon
We must assume from the nominations that Summer of 85 is in the lead. But a word of pundit caution: No François Ozon picture has ever won the top prize at the Césars though some of his best films like Under the Sand, 8 Women, In the House, and Frantz were all nominated.
BEST DIRECTOR
- Albert Dupontel (3rd nom and 1 win in this category), Bye Bye Morons ★
- Maîwenn (3rd nom in this category), DNA
- Sébastien Lifshitz (1st nom in this category), Adolescentes
- Emmanuel Mouret (1st nom in this category), Love Affair(s)
- François Ozon (6th nom in this category), Summer Of 85
Eventually they're going to have to give it to Ozon, right?
BEST ACTRESS
Two of Us snagged two Best Actress nods
- Laure Calamy (3rd nom), My Donkey, My Lover, and I ★
- Martine Chevallier (1st nom) Two Of Us
- Virginie Efira (4th nom), Bye Bye Morons
- Camélia Jordana (2nd nom), Love Affair(s)
- Barbara Sukowa (1st nom), Two Of Us
None of the nominees have ever won so someone will get quite a reward on César night. Barbara Sukowa is of course more famous from German cinema in films like Hannah Arendt, Stefan Zweig: Fareweell to Germany, Lola, and Rosa Luxemburg. She also pops up in English language fare on occasion (Atomic Blonde, Native Son, Gloria Bell, Thirteen Conversations about one Thing)
BEST ACTOR
Lambert Wilson in De Gaulle
- Sami Bouajila (3rd nom, 1 win), A Son ★
- Jonathan Cohen (first nomination), Enormous
- Albert Dupontel (5th nomination for acting), Bye Bye Morons
- Niels Schneider, (2nd nom, 1 win) Love Affair(s)
- Lambert Wilson (7th nomination), De Gaulle
French cinema fans will know some of these names. Albert Dupontel has won writing and directing Césars but no statues for his acting yet. Sami Bouajila has starred in Oscar contenders (Days of Glory) and gay arthouse hits (The Adventures of Felix), and even an occassional English language picture (The Siege). Niels Schneider is best known to US audiences for Xavier Dolan films (I Killed My Mother, Heartbeats). And finally silver fox Lambert Wilson has been in a ton of things -- he actually made his debut in the Best Picture nominee Julia (1977) in a small role. Since then he's been in stuff like Of Gods and Men, The Matrix, Jefferson in Paris, Catwoman, and more. DeGaulle is a biopic about Charles de Gaulle, the famous French military man. Lambert has already finished shooting the next Matrix film reprising his character. Surprisingly he's never won the César.
BEST FOREIGN FILM
- 1917 (UK) dir: Sam Mendes
- Corpus Christi (Poland) dir: Jan Komasa
- Dark Waters (US) dir: Todd Haynes
- Another Round (Denmark) dir: Thomas Vinterberg ★
- The August Virgin (Spain) dir: Jonas Trueba
Wow Dark Waters a year plus after its non-eventful US run. Another Round just can't stop scoring can it? Will it have a slam dunk Oscar win or is the competition going to get stronger once people view them?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
César favourites Noémie Lvovsky and Yolande Moreau in "How to be a Good Wife"
- Fanny Ardant (7th nom, 2 wins) DNA
- Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (5th nom, 1 win), Summer Of 85
- Emilie Dequenne (5th nom), Love Affair(s) ★
- Noémie Lvovsky (8th nom for acting), How to be a Good Wife
- Yolande Moreau (4th nom for acting, 2 wins), How to be a Good Wife
A category stacked with César favourites.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Fanny Ardant, Louis Garrel, and Maiwenn star in DNA (currently streaming on Netflix)
- Edouard Baer (3rd nom), How to be a Good Wife
- Louis Garrel (6th nom for acting, 1 win), DNA
- Benjamin Lavernhe (3rd nom), My Donkey, My Lover, and I
- Vincent Macaigne (3rd nom for acting), Love Affair(s)
- Nicolas Marié (1st nom), Bye Bye Morons ★
Of course you know the ubiquitous Louis Garrel who makes endless French movies and also dabbles in English language cinema (The Dreamers, Little Women)
BEST FEMALE NEWCOMER
Fathtia Youssouf in "Cuties"
- Mélissa Guers, The Girl with a Bracelet
- India Hair, Sexfish
- Julia Piaton, Love Affair(s)
- Camille Rutherford, Felicità
- Fathia Youssouf, Cuties ★
On instagram Melissa Guers, Julia Piaton, and Fathia Youssouf
BEST MALE NEWCOMER
Guang Huo in "Night Ride"
- Guang Huo, Night Ride
- Félix Lefebvre, Summer Of 85
- Benjamin Voisin, Summer Of 85
- Alexandre Wetter, Miss
- Jean-Pascal Zadi, Tout Simplement Noir ★
Night Ride is a noir about a cab driver who gets mixed up in a stripper's wild night. Miss is a LGBTQ comedy. Alexandre Wetter plays "Alex" who enters a Miss France beauty contest. Wetter is a beauty as revealed on their Instagram page. Jean-Pascal Zadi's Instagram is followed by Juliette Binoche and Rossy de Palma :) The other three don't seem to have social media accounts.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- Albert Dupontel, Bye Bye Morons ★
- Caroline Vignal, My Donkey, My Lover, and I
- Emmanuel Mouret, Love Affair(s)
- Filippo Meneghetti & Malysone Bovorashy, Two Of Us
- Benoît Delépine & Gustave Kerven, Effacer L’Historique
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- Olivier Assayas, Wasp Network
- Hannelore Cayre & Jean-Paul Salomé, Mama Weed
- François Ozon, Summer Of 85
- Stéphanie Demoustier, Girl with a Bracelet ★
- Eric Barbier, Small Country: An African Childhood
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Laure Calamy in "My Donkey My Lover and I" known in France as "Antoinette dans les Cévennes"
- Alexis Kavyrchine, Bye Bye Morons ★
- Antoine Parouty & Paul Guilhaume, Adolescentes
- Simon Beaufils, My Donkey My Lover and I
- Laurent Desmet, Love Affair(s)
- Hichame Alaouié, Summer Of 85
BEST EDITING
- Christophe Pinel, Bye Bye Morons
- Tina Baz, Adolescentes ★
- Annette Dutertre, My Donkey My Lover and I
- Marital Salomon, Love Affair(s)
- Laure Gardette, Summer Of 85
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
- Mimi Lempicka, Bye Bye Morons
- Madeline Fontaine, How to be a Good Wife ★
- Hélène Davoudian, Love Affair(s)
- Anaïs Romand & Sergio Ballo, De Gaulle
- Pascaline Chavanne, Summer Of 85
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
- Carlos Conti, Bye Bye Morons ★
- Thierry François, How to be a Good Wife
- David Faivre, Love Affair(s)
- Nicolas De Boiscuillé, De Gaulle
- Benoît Barouh, Summer Of 85
BEST SOUND
- Adolescentes ★
- Bye Bye Morons
- Love Affair(s)
- My Lover My Donkey nd I
- Summer Of 85
BEST SCORE
- Christophe Julien, Bye Bye Morons
- Stephen Warbeck, DNA
- Mateï Bratescot, My Donkey My Lover and I
- Jean-Benoït Dunckel, Summer Of 85
- Rone, Night Ride. ★
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
- Calamity dir: Rémi Chayé
- Josep, dir: Aurel ★
- Petit Vampire, dir: Joann Sfar
We're currently predicting Calamity to score an Oscar nomination... primarily because that fifth spot feels wide open at the Oscars.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
- Adolescentes, dir: Sébastien Lifshitz ★
- The Tie, dir: Etienne Chaillou & Mathias Théry
- Cyrille dir: Rodolphe Marconi
- Histoire D’Un Regard, dir: Mariana Otero
- Un Pays Qui Se Tient Sage, dir: David Du Fresne
BEST FIRST FILM
- Two Of Us, dir: Filippo Meneghetti ★
- My Best Part, dir: Nicolas Maury
- Cuties, dir: Maïmouna Doucouré
- Tout Simplement Noir, dir: Jean-Pascal Zadi
- Arab Blues, dir: Manele Labidi
IF YOU'VE SEEN ANY OF THESE PICTURES, DO TELL US ABOUT THEM IN THE COMMENTS!
Reader Comments (34)
I loved Summer of 85 - Ozon (along with Sofia Coppola and Luca Guadagnino) is one of my favorite working directors.
5 nominees is the way to go. I hope Lambert and François finally win.
Emmanuel Mouret’s Love affairs actually leads with 13 nominations
Very happy to see My Donkey, My Lover and I with such a good showing! That was one of my favorites from AFI Fest and it's really a delight.
It's also great to see Calamity move into your top 5 predictions for animated feature - another terrific film.
French remake of Call Me By Your Name?
Always good to hear about the Césars - thanks for this.
The Césars usually have 7 nominees in the top categories. Rule change or just fewer films due to COVID? Either way, I like 5!
Ozon is now up to 15 César nominations overall. He's overdue for a win!
I haven't watch ANY of the films, but is glad to see Diva Plavalaguna nominated as best director.
Very happy that Barbara Sukowa made the Best Actress lineup (she deserves the same actressing worship that other European legends get, and she’s absolutely incredible in Two of Us), but a shame that her film underperforming in terms of nominations likely rules her out for the win.
The "Two of Us" snubbed comes as a shock, it didn't get even the noms even in the technicals categories.
And I'm so glad for "Love Affair(s)". It's one of the 15 best films I've seen this year.
Imagine a Woody Allen film in the way it presents characters, interweaving between their stories and arrange meetings between them, but more melancholic and French. Though I must admit that the ending left me frustrated.
Of course, "Summer of 85" is also great, but I'm an Ozon fan so I would like almost anything that comes out of his hands.
"My Donkey, My Lover & I" is adorable and fun to watch. I suppose anyone who likes French comedies would enjoy it.
P.S. all the major films besides "Bye Bye Morons" were out before October 1st so their non-ability to compete for next year's Oscar has nothing to do with this year (while "DNA" despite the October release was on the short-list this year).
César -- the Césars have been into her as a director for a while now. I still need to see Polisse which I think is her bestrreviewed film?
Julien -- whoops. i'll put in a note.
Summer of '85 is a masterpiece - and by the way, it got 12 nominations, not 11. It doesn't have so much to do with Call Me by Your Name, actually... it's more in the vein of an explicitly erotic melodrama with a strong noirish vibe. I totally loved it, in my personal ranking it's Ozon's best.
So happy for the wonderful Fanny Ardant, who got nominated for Supporting Actress again, after winning her second César last year for her beautiful performance in "La Belle Èpoque".
Summer of 85 is now on iTunes. I watched it online during TIFF. Liked it very much. Was listening to Rod Stewart for days.
Stefano -- i only count 11. what am i missing?
GO OZON!!!!!!!!
Summer of 85 was really bland IMO. Kinda shocked to see it with the most nominations.
I have seen Sami Bouajila in A Son though and he was excellent as was the film. I would have loved to have seen it submitted for Tunisia in Best International Film though clearly they've done well for themselves without it! (I do prefer A Son to The Man Who Sold His Skin though, just ever so slightly.)
I love thier foreign film category. Get one of your writers on a fun look at the category's history you cowards! Another Round waltzing to another award show en route to picking up the golden boy. Yippee kiyay motherfuckers!
France is a fascist country and they cannot hide it even with a hot president
Love Affair(s) is a wonderful movie, one of my top movies from 2020 as well. Great screenplay and acting.
Summer of 85' is very enjoyable as well (I have yet to find a movie of Ozon that I don't like)
Too bad Two of Us didn't receive more moniations, it is subtle and yet moving.
DNA; My Lover, My Donkey and I are fun to watch.
Bye Bye Morons, A Son and How to Be a Good Wife are on my radar.
Sebastien Lifshitz is only the second director ever nominated in this category for directing a documentary,. I love it when thing like that happens. An award for screenplay or directing for documentaries or animated films. Too rare anywhere in the world.
For Noemie Lvovsky, she has never won for acting, writing or directing in spite of her almost 20 nominations now !
Only two awards ever given to fims directed by Ozon :( Cinematography for Frantz and supporting for Swann Arlaud in Grâce à Dieu. I hope it is the right year in spite of the competition.
I would love for legendary Barbara sukowa to win, but I think Laure Calamy gets it. I think she's great, but missing the opportunity to award Sukowa is sad
I would love to see either Maïwen or Ozon winning the best director award. Am I wrong or the Césars do not allow giving both best film and director to the same film?
I am not sure who will take the best actor award (I would say Lambert Wilson and I am more than happy with that), but Sami Bouajila is a terrific actor and 'A son' is a fantastic film. I am glad to see that you highlighted his performance in "The Adventures of Felix", but I think that he was even better in another gay arthouse film ('Les témoins').
And I am so happy to see 'The August Virgin' among the best foreign films nominees, especially since the Goyas ignored it last year (I hoped that at least they would nominate its protagonist as a newcomer). It is a wonderful little film and Jonás Trueba is certainly a director to follow.
Same goes for Spain.
Oh, and for Catalonia (except for the hot president).
Alex Wetter has been one of my favorite models FOR YEARS AND I AM SO HAPPY FOR THEM!
Also loving the Summer of '85 love. <3
We don't have a president in Catalonia LOL
We have an acting president that at least isn’t a dictator wannabe like the two previous ones LOL
since Wasp Network was ellegible, is a bit of an upset that Penelope Cruz wasn't nominated, given that she was the very best thing on that interesting failure.
Nat, I don't know... maybe you've counted just one nominee for Most Promising Actor? Both the film's leads are nominated in the same category. Anyway, the nominations for Summer of '85 are 12 in total (you can check the Wikipedia page of the Césars).
I truly hated Summer of '85 and am bewildered by this nomination count, but Nathaniel, now I feel bad for telling you not to even bother seeing it!
Nathaniel, you're missing BEST SOUND noms... there's the 12th Summer of 85 also... but the film wasn't that great (although I'm still a fan of Ozon's)...
But where is Noée Abita for "Slalom"? And I wouldn't have minded to see Jérémie Renier get nominated for that same film either...
Kris -- aha. so i am. fixed!
@Kris Slalom was deemed ineligible since it wasn’t able to open in cinemas after the second forced shutdown of French theaters, so it will be eligible next year.
How do you get ten nominations (not counting the newcomer categories) without either of your two leads getting a Best Actor nod? Is there a rule preventing them from being double-nommed?
@Luna - Thanks 4 the info! Hope she won't be forgotten by those voters who have seen her at festivals already.