France’s Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma unveiled its nominations for the César Awards this morning in Paris. The races for the country’s Oscar equivalent are led by Xavier Legrand’s feature debut Jusqu’à La Garde (Custody) and Gilles Lellouche’s Le Grand Bain (Sink Or Swim) with 10 mentions each. They are followed by Jacques Audiard’s English-language western, The Sisters Brothers, and Pierre Salvadori’s En Liberté! (The Trouble With You) with nine a piece. All four are in the Best Picture and Director categories.

There’s a noticeably lighter edge to the nominations this year with Le Grand Bain a sort of Full Monty à la française that sees a group of middle-aged men form a synchronized swimming team. The movie debuted out of competition in Cannes and became the 3rd highest grossing local title of 2018 with over 5M tickets sold.

Also out of Cannes, En Libérté! won the SACD prize in Directors’ Fortnight. It stars Adèle Haenel as a detective in a French Riviera town who is the young widow of the police chief. When she learns her husband was a crooked cop, she crosses paths with a man he unjustly imprisoned for eight years. Their encounter leads to a troublesome sequence of wild mishaps.

Audiard’s The Sisters Brothers, which Annapurna handled domestically, marks the filmmaker’s first outing in English. It follows siblings Eli and Charlie Sisters who are hired to kill a prospector who has stolen from their boss. The story, a genre-hybrid with comedic elements, takes place in Oregon in 1851 and stars Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly, Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed. Audiard took the Best Director Silver Lion in Venice last September.

On the serious side, Custody was originally screened in Venice and Toronto in 2017 then released in February in France last year. A story of domestic abuse, it stars Denis Ménochet and Léa Drucker and won the Directing prize in Venice 2017.

Rounding out the Best Picture nominees are La Douleur by Emmanuel Finkiel and based on the Marguerite Duras novel; Critics’ Week comedy Guy by Alex Lutz; and Jeanne Herry’s drama Pupille.

The Foreign Film category includes Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri; this year’s Oscar nominees Capernaum, Cold War and Shoplifters; and Lukas Dhont’s Belgian film Girl.

The César ceremony takes place in Paris on February 22, hosted by Kad Merad and presided over by Kristin Scott Thomas. Robert Redford is receiving an honorary César this year. Check out the list of major nominations below:

BEST PICTURE
LA DOULEUR, dir: EMMANUEL FINKIEL
EN LIBERTÉ!, dir: PIERRE SALVADORI
THE SISTERS BROTHERS, dir: JACQUES AUDIARD
LE GRAND BAIN, dir: GILLES LELLOUCHE
GUY, dir: ALEX LUTZ
JUSQU’À LA GARDE, dir: XAVIER LEGRAND
PUPILLE, dir: JEANNE HERRY

BEST DIRECTOR
EMMANUEL FINKIEL, LA DOULEUR
PIERRE SALVADORI, EN LIBERTÉ!
JACQUES AUDIARD, THE SISTERS BROTHERS
GILLES LELLOUCHE, LE GRAND BAIN
ALEX LUTZ, GUY
XAVIER LEGRANDn JUSQU’À LA GARDE
JEANNE HERRY, PUPILLE

BEST ACTOR
EDOUARD BAER, MADEMOISELLE DE JONCQUIÈRES
ROMAIN DURIS, NOS BATAILLES
VINCENT LACOSTE, AMANDA
GILLES LELLOUCHE, PUPILLE
ALEX LUTZ, GUY
PIO MARMAÏ, EN LIBERTÉ!
DENIS MÉNOCHET, JUSQU’À LA GARDE

BEST ACTRESS
ÉLODIE BOUCHEZ, PUPILLE
CÉCILE DE FRANCE, MADEMOISELLE DE JONCQUIÈRES
LÉA DRUCKER, JUSQU’À LA GARDE
VIRGINIE EFIRA, UN AMOUR IMPOSSIBLE
ADÈLE HAENEL, EN LIBERTÉ!
SANDRINE KIBERLAIN, PUPILLE
MÉLANIE THIERRY, LA DOULEUR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
JEAN-HUGUES ANGLADE, LE GRAND BAIN
DAMIEN BONNARD, EN LIBERTÉ!
CLOVIS CORNILLAC, LES CHATOUILLES
PHILIPPE KATERINE, LE GRAND BAIN
DENIS PODALYDÈS, PLAIRE, AIMER ET COURIR VITE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
ISABELLE ADJANI, LE MONDE EST À TOI
LEÏLA BEKHTI, LE GRAND BAIN
VIRGINIE EFIRA, LE GRAND BAIN
AUDREY TAUTOU, EN LIBERTÉ!
KARIN VIARD, LES CHATOUILLES

BEST NEWCOMER (FEMALE)
OPHÉLIE BAU, MEKTOUB, MY LOVE: CANTO UNO
GALATEA BELLUGI, L’APPARITION
JEHNNY BETH, UN AMOUR IMPOSSIBLE
LILY-ROSE DEPP, L’HOMME FIDÈLE
KENZA FORTAS, SHÉHÉRAZADE

BEST NEWCOMER (MALE)
ANTHONY BAJON, LA PRIÈRE
THOMAS GIORIA, JUSQU’À LA GARDE
WILLIAM LEBGHIL, PREMIÈRE ANNÉE
KARIM LEKLOU, LE MONDE EST À TOI
DYLAN ROBERT, SHÉHÉRAZADE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
ALEXIS KAVYRCHINE, LA DOULEUR
BENOÎT DEBIE, THE SISTERS BROTHERS
LAURENT TANGY, LE GRAND BAIN
NATHALIE DURAND, JUSQU’À LA GARDE
LAURENT DESMET, MADEMOISELLE DE JONCQUIÈRES

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
ANDRÉA BESCOND & ERIC MÉTAYER, LES CHATOUILLES
EMMANUEL FINKIEL, LA DOULEUR
JACQUES AUDIARD & THOMAS BIDEGAIN, LES FRÈRES SISTERS
EMMANUEL MOURET, MADEMOISELLE DE JONCQUIÈRES
CATHERINE CORSINI & LAURETTE POLMANSS, UN AMOUR IMPOSSIBLE

BEST EDITING
VALÉRIE DESEINE, LES CHATOUILLES
ISABELLE DEVINCK, EN LIBERTÉ!
JULIETTE WELFLING, THE SISTERS BROTHERS
SIMON JACQUET, LE GRAND BAIN
YORGOS LAMPRINOS, JUSQU’À LA GARDE

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
PIERRE SALVADORI, BENOÎT GRAFFIN, BENJAMIN CHARBIT for EN LIBERTÉ!
GILLES LELLOUCHE, AHMED HAMIDI, JULIEN LAMBROSCHINI for LE GRAND BAIN
ALEX LUTZ, ANAÏS DEBAN, THIBAULT SEGOUIN for GUY
XAVIER LEGRAND for JUSQU’À LA GARDE
JEANNE HERRY for PUPILLE

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
ASTÉRIX – LE SECRET DE LA POTION MAGIQUE, dirs: ALEXANDRE ASTIER, LOUIS CLICHY
DILILI À PARIS, dir: MICHEL OCELOT
PACHAMAMA, dir: JUAN ANTIN

BEST DEBUT FEATURE
L’AMOUR FLOU, dirs: ROMANE BOHRINGER, PHILIPPE REBBOT
LES CHATOUILLES, dirs: ANDRÉA BESCOND, ERIC MÉTAYER
JUSQU’À LA GARDE, dir: XAVIER LEGRAND
SAUVAGE, dir: CAMILLE VIDAL-NAQUET
SHÉHÉRAZADE, dir: JEAN-BERNARD MARLIN

BEST DOCUMENTARY
AMERICA, dir: CLAUS DREXEL
DE CHAQUE INSTANT, dir: NICOLAS PHILIBERT
LE GRAND BAL, dir: LAETITIA CARTON
NI JUGE, NI SOUMISE, dirs: JEAN LIBON, YVES HINANT
LE PROCÈS CONTRE MANDELA ET LES AUTRES, dirs: NICOLAS CHAMPEAUX, GILLES PORTE