Each year for the Césars ceremony, the observation is the same. The place of women remains in the minority, a more general reflection of their place in the profession. But for this 2023 edition, it was their total absence from the “best achievement” category that set things on fire, when there were three of them last year to compete for this prize (Valérie Lemercier, Audrey Diwan and Julia Ducournau).

Thus, the only woman nominated for the “best film”, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, who with The Almond Trees nevertheless totals seven nominations, does not appear there either. The 50/50 collective, which works for greater parity in the cinema, deplored the lack of representation of women in the top categories of the ceremony. “We would have dreamed of distinguishing ourselves from the Oscars, an institution which also shows an incomprehensible forgetfulness regarding the directors who marked the past year with their works”explains the collective in a press release.

Women represent 44% of voters at the Césars

The reduction in the number of nominations from seven to five in these two categories, decided this year by the Académie des Césars for reasons of simplification, partly explains this result. “When you reduce the number of places, you automatically exclude women, underlines Véronique Le Bris, creator of the Alice-Guy prize and specialist in the place of women in cinema. Penalized by a lack of notoriety and budgets often lower than those of men, they rarely appear in the very first places. »

The Académie des Césars, which has been deeply reformed since 2019, has established a more equal college of voters since it now has 44% women. “Which obviously does not mean that women vote for women, continues Véronique Le Bris. There are surely other measures to imagine to further improve things, such as establishing parity in appointments to force the eye. The subject, in any case, is no longer ignored. »

Huge disparities between categories

A study published on Tuesday February 21 by the 50/50 collective also draws up a complete assessment of the last five editions of the ceremony. In total, women represent 25% of those nominated and 25% of those awarded.

Figures which are progressing slightly (19% of the selected and 20% of the winners since the creation of the Césars), but which above all mask enormous disparities according to the trades. Thus they are more represented in categories such as costumes or editing and almost absent in others, such as music, sound, direction and script.

She recalls that, in the entire history of the Césars, only one woman has received the César for best director: Tonie Marshall, for Venus Beauty in 2000. In addition, over the past five years, only Andréa Bescond has been awarded the prize for best screenplay, shared with Éric Métayer for Tickles. Finally, if three women received the prize for the best film, it is because the latter is given to the producers (in this case to the producers) and not to the directors.

The only positive note for the future is the proportion of women in the short film categories (37% among those nominated and 50% among those awarded) and first films (35% and 20% respectively). “Among the young talents, women are more numerous, notes Véronique Le Bris. In fact, today they are in the majority in film schools. »