The Cesar Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, are celebrating their 50th edition on Friday at the Olympia Theater in Paris with a roster of nominations that is richer — literally and figuratively — than in most years.

A pair of epic French blockbusters, “The Count of Monte Cristo,” adapted from Alexandre Dumas’ literary classic, and “Beating Hearts,” Gilles Lellouche’s sprawling crime romance, are leading the race with 14 and 13 nominations respectively. Following closely is another glitzy pic, Jacques Audiard’s crime musical “Emilia Perez” vying for 12 nods, including best film and best actress for Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofía Gascón. The latter has made her first award show appearance at the Cesar Awards ceremony after laying low in the wake of her offensive posts. Gascón, who skipped the press line on the red carpet, sat on the same row as Audiard and Saldana inside the Olympia theater, but didn’t seat next to them. The ceremony’s emcee, French actor Jean-Pascal Zadi, made fun of her while describing the movie in his opening speech and joked that “Emilia Perez” was “nominated for best director, best film, best actress and best tweet,” sparking a mix of shock and laugher in the crowd, including on Audiard’s and Saldana’s faces. Zadi then told Audiard, “Jacques, that’s all we have left to do it, we have to laugh.”

Also in the mix is “A Little Something Extra,” a smash hit comedy featuring non-professional actors with disabilities which sold nearly 11 million admissions, earned a best first film nomination for Artus, who directed and co-stars in the movie. The cast of the movie is expected to show up at the Cesar Awards dressed by Kering’s luxury brands, including Saint-Laurent.

Ranking as a top Cesar contender among big-budget movies, “Souleymane’s Story” is likely the most timely and politically minded movie of this year’s race. Nominated for eight Cesar Awards, the film stars Abou Sangare as a Guinean immigrant navigating the streets of Paris where he works as a bike courier ahead of his asylum interview.

The crossover profile of several major Cesar contenders is good news for Canal+, which is airing the ceremony live and is hoping to lure a large audience. The show is being spearheaded by “Call My Agent!” co-helmer Cedric Klapisch who serves as artistic director of the ceremony.

Anticipated highlights included the presence of Catherine Deneuve on stage as ceremony president who paid tribute to Ukraine and reminisced about being encouraged to start acting at an early age by her sister, Françoise Dorléac, who died in 1967; and the honorary tribute to Julia Roberts, whose award will be given to her by her “Closer” co-star Clive Owen. Roberts follows in the footsteps of previous honoree Christopher Nolan. During the opening speech, Zadi quipped that Roberts could emigrate to France if she’s unhappy about the state of U.S. politics. “France is a welcoming land for political refugees,” he said, prompting her to enthusiastically bow and nod her head in approval.

Another emotionally charged moment happened when Abou Sangare won best male newcomer and spoke about how his work in “Souleyman’s Journey” has changed his life. Just last month, he finally secured a visa in France on his fourth attempt.

The Cesar Academy is now presided over by indie French producer Patrick Sobelman and Gaumont’s senior executive Ariane Toscan Du Plantier who have revamped the voting body to make it more diverse. But after Justine Triet became the second female director to win a Cesar with “Anatomy of a Fall” (which also picked up best film, original screenplay, actress for Sandra Huller, supporting actor for Swann Arlaud and editing) in 2024, this 50th edition is marked by the absence of women filmmakers nominated for best director. There are, however, two women directors vying for best first film, Louis Courvoisier with “Holy Cow,” and Agathe Riedinger with “Wild Diamond.”

Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance,” meanwhile, is only nominated for one Cesar award, for best foreign film, because it’s the only category the film is eligible in due to the fact that it was produced outside of France and didn’t receive an agreement from the National Film Board. “The Substance,” however, will be competing for five Academy Awards on Sunday.

Fargeat’s movie was beat by Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest.” While Glazer did not attend the ceremony, the movie’s French distributor, David Grumbach at Bac Films, read a fiery political speech penned by the filmmaker and referring to the war in Gaza.

“The Count of Monte Cristo,” produced by Dimitri Rassam, Jerôme Seydoux, directed by Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de la Patelliere
“Emilia Pérez,” produced by Pascal Caucheteux, Jacques Audiard, Valerie Schermann, directed by Jacques Audiard
“The Marching Band, produced by Marc Bordure, Robert Guediguian, directed by Emmanuel Courcol
“Souleymane’s Story,” produced by Bruno Nahon, directed by Boris Lojkine
“Misericordia,” produced by Charles Gillibert, directed by Alain Guiraudie

Best Director

Gilles Lellouche for “Beating Hearts”
Matthieu Delaporte et Alexandre de la Patellière for “The Count Of Monte Cristo”
Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez”
Boris Lojkine for “Souleymane’s Story”
Alain Guiraudie for “Misericordia”

Best Original Screenplay

Stéphane Demoustier for “Borgo”
Emmanuel Courcol and Irène Muscari for “The Marching Band”
Boris Lojkine et Delphine Agut for “Souleymane’s Story”
Alain Guiraudie and “Misericordia”
Louise Courvoisier and Théo Abadie for “Holy Cow”

Best Adapted Screenplay

Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière for “The Count Of Monte-Cristo”

Michel Hazanavicius and Jean-Claude Grumberg for “The Most Precious Of Cargoes”

Best Actress

Adèle Exarchopoulos, “Beating Hearts”
Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”
Hafsia Herzi, “Borgo”
Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”
Hélène Vincent, “When Fall Is Coming”

Best Actor

François Civil for “Beating Hearts”
Benjamin Lavernhe for “The Marching Band”
Karim Leklou for “Jim’s Story”
Pierre Niney for “The Count of Monte-Cristo”
Tahar Rahim for “Monsieur Aznavour”

Female Revelation

Maïwène Barthelemy for “Holy Cow”
Malou Khebizi for “Wild Diamond”
Megan Northam for “Rabia”
Mallory Wanecque for “Beating Hearts”
Souheila Yacoub for “Planet B”

Male Revelation

Adam Bessa for “Ghost Trail”
Malik Frikah for “Beating Hearts”
Félix Kysil for “Misericordia”
Pierre Lottin for “The Marching Band”

Best First Film

“Wild Diamond” by Agathe Riedinger
“Ghost Trail” by Jonathan Millet
“The Kingdom” by Julien Colonna
“A Little Something Extra” by Artus

Best Foreign Film

“Anora” by Sean Baker
“The Seed of The Sacred Fig Tree” by Mohammad Rasoulof
“The Apprentice” by Ali Abbasi
“The Substance” by Coralie Fargeat

Best Animated Feature

“Flow” by Gint Zilbalodis
“The Most Precious of Cargoes” by Michel Hazanavicius
“Savages” by Claude Barras

Best Documentary

“The Belle from Gaza” by Yolande Zauberman.
“Bye Bye Tiberias” by Lina Soualem
“Dahomey” by Mati Diop
“Ernest Cole: Lost and Found” by Raoul Peck
“The Bertrand’s Farm” by Gilles Perret
“Madame Hofmann” by Sébastien Lifshitz

Best Sound

Cédric Deloche, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Jon Goc and Marc Doisne for “Beating Hearts”
David Rit, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Olivier Touche, Laure-Anne Darras, Marion Papinot, Marc Doisne and Samuel Delorme for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta for “Emilia Pérez”
Pascal Armant, Sandy Notarianni and Niels Barletta for “The Marching Band”
Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak and Samuel Aïchoun for “Souleymane’s Story”

Best Cinematography

Laurent Tangy for Beating Hearts
Nicolas Bolduc for The Count of Monte Cristo
Paul Guilhaume for Emilia Pérez
Tristan Galand for Souleymane’s Story
Claire Mathon for Misericordia

Best Editing

Simon Jacquet for Beating Hearts
Célia Lafitedupont for The Count of Monte Cristo
Juliette Welfling for Emilia Pérez
Guerric Catala for The Marching Band
Xavier Sirven for Souleymane’s Story

Best Costumes

Isabelle Pannetier for “Beating Hearts”
Thierry Delettre for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
Virginie Montel for “Emilia Pérez”
Isabelle Mathieu for “Monsieur Aznavour”
Anaïs Romand for “The Divine Sarah Bernhardt”

Best Production Design

Jean-Philippe Moreau for “Beating Hearts”
Stéphane Taillasson for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
Emmanuelle Duplay for “Emilia Pérez”
Stéphane Rozenbaum for “Monsieur Aznavour”
Olivier Radot for “The Divine Sarah Bernhardt”