A Prophet leads Cesars with 13 nominations

Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet pictured), which is also France’s submission for the foreign language Oscar and on that body’s shortlist, leads the nominations with 13 in total including best picture, director and actor for Tahar Rahim.

Philippe Lioret’s Welcome took nine nominations, also including in the best picture, director and actor categories. Francois Cluzet, who starred in Guillaume Canet’s Tell No One, a sleeper hit in the US, has the distinction of competing against himself in the best actor category for Philippe Godeau’s One For The Road and Xavier Giannoli’s Cannes competitor In The Beginning.

Foreign films chosen include James Cameron’s Avatar, Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, Gus Van Sant’s Milk, Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s A Town Called Panic, Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Xavier Dolan’s Fortnight victor I Killed My Mother.

The Cesar ceremony will take place on February 27 in Paris.

The major nominees are as follows:

Best Film
In The Beginning, dir: Xavier Giannoli
The Concert, dir: Radu Mihaileanu
Les Herbes Folles, dir: Alain Resnais
La Journee De La Jupe, dir: Jeal-Paul Lilienfeld
Rapt, dir: Lucas Belvaux
A Prophet, dir : Jacques Audiard
Welcome, dir : Philippe Lioret

Best Director
Jacques Audiard, A Prophet
Lucas Belvaux, Rapt
Xavier Giannoli, In The Beginning
Philippe Lioret, Welcome
Radu Mihaileanu, The Concert

Best Actor
Yvan Attal, Rapt
Francois Cluzet, In The Beginning
Francois Cluzet, One For The Road
Vincent Lindon, Welcome
Tahar Rahim, A Prophet

Best actress
Isabelle Adjani, La Journee De La Jupe
Dominique Blanc, The Other One
Sandrine Kiberlain, Mademoiselle Chambon
Kristin Scott Thomas, Leaving
Audrey Tautou, Coco Before Chanel

Best newcomer, male
Firat Ayverdi, Welcome
Adel Bencherif, A Prophet
Vincent Lacoste, The French Kissers
Tahar Rahim, A Prophet
Vincent Rottiers, Je Suis Content Que Ma Mere Soit Vivante

Best newcomer, female
Pauline Etienne, Silent Voice
Florence Loiret-Caille, Someone I Love
Soko, In The Beginning
Christa Theret, LOL (Laughing Out Loud)
Melanie Thierry, One For The Road

Best 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

Best original screenplay
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit, A Prophet
Xavier Giannoli, In The Beginning
Jean-Paul Lilienfeld, La Journee De La Jupe
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, Les Herbes Folles

Best foreign film
Avatar, dir: James Cameron
Gran Torino, dir: Clint Eastwood
Milk, dir:  Gus Van Sant
I Killed My Mother, dir: Xavier Dolan
A Town Called Panic, dirs: Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar
The White Ribbon, dir: Michael Haneke
Slumdog Millionaire, dir: Danny Boyle