The César Awards

The Césars, France’s version of the Oscars, are on Friday night, and tout le French film world will be at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris to see who will win France’s most prestigious film prizes. Also on hand will be Sean Penn, who recently won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Mr. Penn will be presenting the award for Best Film. The veteran American actor Dustin Hoffman, 71, is receiving the César’s Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by British actress Emma Thompson.

French actor and director Dany Boon, however, will not be at tonight’s ceremony.  Boon, whose film Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis was released in 2008 and quickly became the most successful French movie of all time, has publicly stated that he is disappointed Ch’tis was nominated only for Best Screenplay, and not for Best Film. Industry opinion is divided as to whether Boon deserves the highest honor of all or not. Fellow director Luc Besson, for one, does not think so. Interviewed by the newspaper Journal du Dimanche, Besson said that while he likes Boon and his film, he didn’t “understand the debate” over whether the film was worthy of a Cesar.  But the beautiful young actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and head of the César jury this year, has said publicly that Boon’s film deserved to be nominated.

Read more about Bienvenue Chez Les Ch’tis

Update: The award for Best Film went to Seraphine, directed by Martin Provost and starring Yolande Moreau.