Having scored numerous nominations this awards season—including her first Academy Award nomination—it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Bérénice Bejo has received recognition from France’s Academy of Technical Arts and Sciences.
The 35-year-old Argentine actress—the scene-stealer in the critically acclaimed French silent, black-and-white film The Artist—has received a Cesar Award nomination for best actress.
Bejo is up against Declaration of War’s Valerie Donzelli, Poliss stars Karin Viard and Marina Fois, Leila Bekhti for Radu Mihaileanu’s The Source, Marie Gillain for Toutes nos envies and Ariane Ascaride for her role in The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
In all, France’s Academy bestowed Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist with 10 nominations including best film, best actor for Bejo’s co-star Jean Dujardin and best director.
For the first time, one of the Cesar favorites — The Artist — is a best film Oscar front-runner as well, which doesn’t surprise French Film Academy president Alain Terzian.
“Don’t forget that the Cesar Awards were created in homage to the Oscars,” Terzian told The Hollywood Reporter. “The people who founded the Cesar Awards were all known in Hollywood – Claude Lelouch, Claude Berri, Costa-Gavras, Michel Legrand and Jean-Jacques Annaud for example. It’s symbolic that the Cesar and the Oscars are the same weekend. It’s an homage I want to permanently pay.”
The winners will be announced at the 36th annual Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris on February 24, just two days prior to the Academy Awards.
