Dossiers

Prior to the establishment of the Césars, no cinematic equivalent to the American Oscars existed in France.There was the Grand prix du Cinéma Français which was awarded to one film each year from 1934 to 1986 and the Victoires du Cinéma Françaiswhich lasted a decade in the 1950s.Neither the Grand Prix nor the Victoires could capture the scope or the glamour of the internationally recognized Academy Awards. As a result, in 1975, Georges Cravenne, a French film producer, created Les Césars Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma as a French equivalent to the American Oscars.

Cravanne explained his motivations for creating the Césars: "The idea of creating a French equivalent germinated in my mind until one day the name ofmy friend César,a brilliant sculptor [César Baldaccini], and his statuette with him,came to me.Oscar,"César," five letters (oh!) that rhymed to such a degree that the birth of the second became evident, for the greater good of the promotion of cinema, and Europe in any case."

In the beginning, only 13 Césars were awarded to members of the film industry.Today there are 20 Césars awarded in late February or early March in Paris.Every year, over 3,400 artists and professionals form the Académie,whose mission it is to encourage the creation of cinematography and garner public interest in French cinema.