As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences scrambles to correct the resurgent whiteness of its nominees and membership, l’Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma have unveiled their nominees for the 2016 César Awards. We put them up against the Academy’s spate of nominations to see how the Oscars fare.
Best Director
Jacques Audiard, Dheepan — (White, but bald)
Stéphane Brizé, The Measure Of A Man — (White, fantastic hair)
Xavier Giannoli, Marguerite — (White)
Maïwenn, Mon Roi — (White, but a woman)
Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Mustang – (Turkish-born woman)
Emmanuelle Bercot, Standing Tall – (Woman, possibly blonde)
Arnaud Desplechin, My Golden Days — (White, hair like chaos)
Academy Awards: four white guys and a Mexican dude.
Advantage: César Awards.
Best Actor
Jean-Pierre Bacri, The Very Private Life Of Mister Sim — (Algerian-born)
Vincent Cassel, Mon Roi — (White, brother is a rapper)
François Damiens, Cowboys — (White, if “Beglian Walloons” count)
Gérard Depardieu, Valley Of Love — (Russian)
Antonythasan Jesuthasan – Dheepan — (Sri Lankan Tamil)
Vincent Lindon, The Measure Of A Man — (White, has spent time in the Monaco royal house)
Fabrice Luchini, Courted — (White, parents were Italian immigrants)
Academy Awards: five white guys.
Advantage: César Awards.
Best Actress
Loubna Abidar, Much Loved — (Moroccan)
Emmanuelle Bercot, Mon Roi — (Still possibly blonde, definitely white)
Cécile de France, Summertime — (White, but Belgian)
Catherine Deneuve, Standing Tall — (White, but Catherine Deneuve)
Catherine Frot, Marguerite — (White, but older)
Isabelle Huppert, Valley of Love — (White, but father was born Jewish)
Soria Zeroual, Fatima — (Middle Eastern)
Academy Awards: five white chicks, although it’s admirable of the Academy to have nominated women in this category.
Advantage: César Awards.
Best Supporting Actor
Michel Fau, Marguerite — (White)
Louis Garrel, Mon Roi — (Blanc)
Benoît Magimel, Standing Tall — (White)
André Marcon, Marguerite — (White)
Vincent Rottiers, Dheepan — (White)
Academy Awards: four white guys and Sylvester Stallone.
Advantage: Academy Awards (before 1950 or so, when Italians weren’t white).
Best Supporting Actress
Sara Forestier, Standing Tall — (White)
Agnès Jaoui, The Sweet Escape — (White)
Noémie Lvovsky, Summertime — (White)
Karin Viard, 21 Nights With Pattie — (White)
Sidse Babett Knudsen, Courted — (Dutch, which is extra white)
Academy Awards: four white ladies and a Swede.
Advantage: César Awards (Swedes are whiter than the Dutch).
Best Picture
Dheepan, about a family of Tamil refugees who flee to France.
Fatima, about a Moroccan-born mother raising her daughters in Lyon.
The Measure Of A Man, about a factory worker with a disabled kid trying to make ends meet.
Marguerite, about an aspiring opera singer.
Mon Roi, about a woman rehabilitating after a skiing accident.
Mustang, about a group of orphaned girls in Turkey.
Standing Tall, about a teenage delinquent.
My Golden Days, a coming-of-age drama.
Academy Awards: rich white men steal from richer white folks, two white guys negotiate for the release of white guys, white people immigrate to Brooklyn, white guys drive cars around the desert, a white dude on Mars, a white gent fights a bear in the snow, white girl held hostage, white guys investigate white priests touching white boys inappropriately.
Advantage: César Awards.
A full list of nominees can be found at the website of l’Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma.
