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The Academy

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The Académie des César

Fame comes to a motion picture in three ways: through public enjoyment (theatrical admissions, video purchases, television audiences), through critical acclaim (the media and festivals), and through recognition by film industry professionals (the National Film Academies).

The Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques, usually referred to as the Académie des César, is the institution that, in France, organizes this third path of cinematic distinction, dedicated to films and the people who make them.

It is made up of more than 4959 members, divided into 10 colleges, which each year, will distinguish by their votes the artists, technicians and films that they consider the most remarkable, by awarding them a trophy called “César”.

Its role

The Rules of the Academy and the list of its members

This is the document that sets out all of the Academy’s operating conditions. It is updated every year by the Academy’s Board.
The number of members constituting the Academy is updated at the end of each year by the Board of the Academy, in accordance with these Rules, in the light of requests for applications and possible resignations or dismissals.

The census of professionals and films eligible for César awards

Each year, the Academy counts more than 3,000 people and more than 600 eligible films in accordance with the information provided by the CNC and after cross-checking with production companies.

The voting process

The Academy organizes and proposes various devices for viewing the eligible films and sends members the voting materials for the first and second rounds. It also manages the procedures for voting, counting and editing the results, with a specialised company and under the supervision of a bailiff.

The César Ceremony

It is the French film event of the year and the Academy’s most visible project: a three-hour live show during which the winners are unveiled in front of more than 1,700 guests in an emblematic hall in the French capital, broadcasted unencrypted and live on Canal+.

Other dedicated events

Through various events organized on the fringes of the Ceremony, the Académie des César pays tribute throughout the year to those who make cinema in France.

Its resources

The Academy does not benefit from any public subsidies.
Its resources come from membership fees, the transfer of audiovisual rights to broadcast the Ceremonies, contributions, whether monetised or not, from its official and technical partners, and the sale of advertising space in the Academy’s publications.

Its governance

The Association for the Promotion of Cinema

The Académie des César is governed by the Association for the Promotion of Cinema (APC), an association under the law of 1901, specially created for this purpose in 1974 by Georges Cravenne. APC is in particular responsible for defining the rules of the Academy:

  • to set the conditions for entry into the Academy and to maintain the membership roster;
  • to fix the different categories of “César” awards, as well as the voting procedures;
  • to fix the conditions of eligibility of films and persons;
  • to set the rules for the awarding of statuettes.

The APC Bureau has been appointed at the Board of Directors meeting on October 15, 2020.

President: Mrs. Véronique CAYLA
Vice-President: Mr. Éric TOLEDANO

Secretary General: Mrs. Elisabeth TANNER
Treasurer: Mr. Didier DIAZ
Mission managers: Mrs. Frédérique BREDIN & Mr. Alain ATTAL

New statutes were adopted at the Extraordinary General Assembly of July 9, 2020 and revised at the Extraordinary General Assembly of November 10, 2020.

On September 14, 2020, all the members of the Académie des César who had paid their dues (4313 members) elected, under the supervision of a bailiff and for a term of 4 years, their 164 representatives spread over 21 professional branches, sitting in the new General Assembly of the Association.

This General Assembly met on September 29, 2020 in order to elect for 2-year terms renewable once, the tandem Woman/Man for the Presidency/Vice-Presidency as well as the 21 other joint pairs, one per professional branch, which constitute the new Board of Directors of the Association.

 

ECE

APC has a subsidiary, called ECE, incorporated as a commercial company, in which it holds 100% of the shares, in charge of the permanent structure of the Academy and the marketing of the rights of the Ceremony.

The permanent staff of ECE constitutes the secretariat of the Academy.