Gilles Lellouche’s Sink Or Swim and Xavier Legrand’s Custody lead the way with 10 nominations for France’s César Awards, announced this morning (Jan 23) in Paris.

Custody premiered at Venice in 2017, where it won the SIlver Lion, while comedy Sink Or Swim, which stars Mathieu Amalric, Virginie Efira and Guillaume Canet, screened out of competition at Cannes last year.

Closely following with nine nods are Pierre Salvadori’s The Trouble With You, which screened in Directors’ Fortnight in 2018, and Jacques Audiard’s English-language The Sisters Brothers starring John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix.

Other best film nominees are Emmanuel Finkiel’s Memoir of War, Alex Lutz’ Guy and Jeanne Harry’s In Safe Hands.

The awards wil take place at the Salle Pleyel in Paris on February 22.

Key nominations

Best film

• Memoir of War
• The Trouble With You
• The Sisters Brothers
• Sink or Swim
• Guy
• Custody
• In Safe Hands

Best director


• Emmanuel Finkiel, Memoir of War
• Pierre Salvadori, The Trouble With You
• Jacques Audiard, The Sisters Brothers
• Gilles Lellouche, Sink or Swim
• Alex Lutz, Guy
• Xavier Legrand, Custody
• Jeanne Harry, In Safe Hands

Best actress

• Elodie Bouchez, In Safe Hands
• Cecile de France, Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
• Lea Drucker, Custody
• Virginie Efira, An Impossible Love
• Adele Haenel, The Trouble With You
• Sandrine Kiberlain, In Safe Hands
• Melanie Thierry, Memoir of War

Best actor

• Edouard Baer, Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
• Romain Duris, Our Struggles
• Vincent Lacoste, Amanda
• Gilles Lellouche, In Safe Hands
• Alex Lutz, Guy
• Pio Marmai, The Trouble With You
• Denis Menochet, Custody

Best foreign film

• Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri
• Capernaum
• Cold War
• Girl
• Hannah
• Our Struggles
• Shoplifters