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Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Days (Trois Souvenirs De Ma Jeunesse) and Xavier Giannoli’s Marguerite topped the nominations list for France’s annual César Awards, announced this morning (Jan 27).

France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations for the 41st edition of the awards at its annual news conference at Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs Elysées.

Desplechin’s romantic drama My Golden Days clocked 11 nominations as did Giannoli’s Marguerite, starring Catherine Frot as a society singer with a terrible voice.

Other features picking up multiple nominations included Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan and Deniz Gamze Erguven’s Mustang, which both secured nine nods.

There was widespread consternation last year in some quarters of the French film industry when five times Palme d’Or nominee Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Years was not given a Competition slot in Cannes’ Official Selection and went on to premiere instead in Directors’ Fortnight.

The film revisits the childhood and teenage years of Paul Dedalus, the protagonist of Desplechin’s My Sex Life… Or How I Got Into An Argument (1996), who also featured in A Christmas Tale (2008) - both of which premiered in Competition at Cannes.

Giannoli’s feel-good comedy drama Marguerite – loosely inspired by the world’s worst soprano Florence Foster Jenkins – was a breakout hit in France when it was released last September, selling more than a million tickets for Memento Distribution.

Mustang, Dheepan also highly nominated

Oscar-nominated Deniz Gamze Erguven’s Mustang received nine nominations, including for best film and best director for her coming-of-age tale tackling female repression in Turkey. The film was produced by Paris-based Charles Gillibert.

Fellow Foreign Language Oscar contender Laszlo Nemes’s Son Of Saul also picked up a Cesar nomination, but in the foreign film category alongside Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre and Jaco Van Dormael’s The Brand New Testament.

French-Turkish Gamze Erguven was among three female directors nominated in the best film and director categories alongside Maiwenn for Mon Roi and her long-time friend and collaborator Emmanuelle Bercot for Standing Tall, which opened the Cannes Film Festival.

Overall, Mon Roi garnered eight nominations while Bercot clocked six nominations for Standing Tall as well as a best actress nomination for her performance in Maiwenn’s Mon Roi.

Other features picking up multiple nominations included Jacques Audiard’s Palme d’Or winner Dheepan with nine nominations.

Stéphane Brizé’s The Measure Of A Man received three nominations including best actor for Vincent Lindon, who won the Palme d’Or for his performance in the feature at Cannes last May.

He is one of the favourites tipped to win the best actor Cesar alongside Fabrice Luchini for his performance as an uptight judge in Courted for which he won Venice’s Volpi Cup for best actor last September.

Michael Douglas to receive honorary award

The awards ceremony will take place on Feb 26 at the Theatre du Chatelet in central Paris presided over by Florence Foresti over by French comedian and actress Florence Foresti. Hollywood star Michael Douglas is due to receive an honorary Cesar for his career at the ceremony.