“Emilia Pérez” won Best Film from the French 2025 César Awards, a major win for the Netflix film ahead of the Oscars. Jacques Audiard’s movie had earned 13 Oscar nominations but then fell out of frontrunner status.
The film also won both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Jacques Audiard, though Zoe Saldaña, who has dominated the awards circuit all year, lost in an upset to Hafsia Herzi for the film “Borgo.” Saldaña though was nominated alongside Karla Sofía Gascón in the Best Actress category, and not in Best Supporting Actress.
In all, “Emilia Pérez” took home seven Césars out of 12 nominations, including Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Original Music, and Best Cinematography. “The Count of Monte Cristo,” a new version of the Dumas revenge tale, led all nominees with 14, and it won two.
While the Césars this year largely did not resemble the Oscars, a few others won some awards that have a chance on Oscar Sunday, most notably “Flow” winning for Best Animated Feature. And in Best Foreign Film that had a field including “Anora,” “The Apprentice,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” and “The Substance,” the winner was a movie that premiered at Cannes in 2023 and won an Oscar in 2024, Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest.”
Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” won last year’s prize for Best Film at the Césars. See the full list of winners from 2025 below:
Winners of the 2025 César Awards
Best Film
“The Count of Monte Cristo”
WINNER: “Emilia Pérez”
“The Marching Band”
“Souleymane’s Story”
“Miséricorde”
Best Director
Gilles Lellouche for “Beating Hearts”
Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de la Patellière for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
WINNER: Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez”
Boris Lojkine for “Souleymane’s Story”
Alain Guiraudie for “Miséricorde”
Best Actress
Adèle Exarchopoulos for “Beating Hearts
Karla Sofía Gascón for “Emilia Pérez”
WINNER: Hafsia Herzi for “Borgo”
Zoe Saldaña for “Emilia Pérez”
Hélène Vincent for “When Fall is Coming”
Best Actor
François Civil for “Beating Hearts”
Benjamin Lavernhe for “The Marching Band”
WINNER: Karim Leklou for “Jim’s Story”
Pierre Niney for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
Tahar Rahim for “Monsieur Aznavour”
Best Supporting Actress
Élodie Bouchez for “Beating Hearts”
Anaïs Demoustier for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
Catherine Frot for “Miséricorde”
WINNER: Nina Meurisse for “Souleymane’s Story”
Sarah Suco for “The Marching Band”
Best Supporting Actor
David Ayala for “Miséricorde”
Bastien Bouillon for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
WINNER: Alain Chabat for “Beating Hearts”
Jacques Develay for “Miséricorde”
Laurent Lafitte for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
Best Female Revelation
WINNER: Maïwène Barthèlemy for “Holy Cow”
Malou Khebizi for “Wild Diamond”
Megan Northam for “Rabia”
Mallory Wanecque for “Beating Hearts”
Souheila Yacoub for “Planet B”
Best Male Revelation
WINNER: Abou Sangaré for “Souleymane’s Story”
Adam Bessa for “Ghost Trail”
Malik Frikah for “Beating Hearts”
Félix Kysyl for “Miséricorde”
Pierre Lottin for “The Marching Band”
Best Original Screenplay
Stéphane Demoustier for “Borgo”
Emmanuel Courcol, Irène Muscari for “The Marching Band”
WINNER: Boris Lojkine, Delphine Agut for “Souleymane’s Story”
Alain Guiraudie for “Miséricorde”
Louise Courvoisier, Théo Abadie for “Holy Cow”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de la Patellière for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
WINNER: Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez”
Michel Hazanavicius, Jean-Claude Grumberg for “The Most Precious of Cargoes”
Best Original Music
Jon Brion for “Beating Hearts”
Jérôme Rebotier for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
WINNER: Clément Ducol, Camille for “Emilia Pérez”
Alexandre Desplat for “The Most Precious of Cargoes”
Linda Courvoisier, Charlie Courvoisier for “Holy Cow”
Best Sound
Cédric Deloche, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Jon Goc, Marc Doisne for “Beating Hearts”
David Rit, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Olivier Touche, Laure-Anne Darras, Marion Papinot, Marc Doisne, Samuel Delorme for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
WINNER: Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Cyril Holtz, Niels Barletta for “Emilia Pérez”
Pascal Armant, Sandy Notarianni, Niels Barletta for “The Marching Band”
Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak, Samuel Aïchoun for “Souleymane’s Story”
Best Cinematography
Laurent Tangy for “Beating Hearts”
Nicolas Bolduc for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
WINNER: Paul Guillaume for “Emilia Pérez”
Tristan Galand for “Souleymane’s Story”
Claire Mathon for “Miséricorde”
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”
WINNER Xavier Sirven for “Souleymane’s Story”
Best Costume Design
Isabelle Pannetier for “Beating Hearts”
WINNER: Thierry Delettre for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
Virginie Montel for “Emilia Pérez”
Isabelle Mathieu for “Monsieur Aznavour”
Anaïs Romand for Sarah Bernhardt, “la divine”
Best Set Design
Jean-Philippe Moreaux for “Beating Hearts”
WINNER: Stéphane Taillasson for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
Emmanuelle Duplay for “Emilia Pérez”
Stéphane Rozenbaum for “Monsieur Aznavour”
Olivier Radot for Sarah Bernhardt, “la divine”
Best Visual Effects
Cédric Fayolle, Hugues Namur, Émilien Lazaron for “The Beast”
Olivier Cauwet for “The Count of Monte Cristo”
WINNER: Cédric Fayolle for “Emilia Pérez”
Stéphane Dittoo for “Monsieur Aznavour”
Best Animated Film
WINNER: “Flow” – Director: Gints Zilbalodis, French Co-Producer: Ron Dyens
“The Most Precious of Cargoes” – Director: Michel Hazanavicius, Producers: Patrick Sobelman, Florence Gastaud, Michel Hazanavicius
“Savages” – Director: Claude Barras, French Co-Producers: France Laurence Petit, Barbara Letellier, Carole Scotta
Best Documentary
“The Belle from Gaza” – Director: Yolande Zauberman, Producers: Bruno Nahon, Yolande Zauberman
“Bye Bye Tiberias” – Director: Lina Soualem, Producer: Jean-Marie Nizan
“Dahomey” – Director: Mati Diop, Producers: Eve Robin, Judith Lou Lévy
“Ernest Cole: Lost and Found” – Director: Raoul Peck, Producer: Raoul Peck
WINNER: “La Ferme des Bertrand” – Director: Gilles Perret, Producers: Denis Carot, Ulysse Payet
Madame Hofmann – Director: Sébastien Lifshitz, Producer: Muriel Meynard
Best Debut Film
Wild Diamond – Director: Agathe Riedinger, Producers: Priscilla Bertin, Judith Nora
Ghost Trail – Director: Jonathan Millet, Producer: Pauline Seigland
The Kingdom – Director: Julien Colonna, Producers: Hugo Sélignac, Antoine Lafon
A Little Something Extra – Director: Artus, Producers: Pierre Forette, Thierry Wong
WINNER: “Holy Cow” – Director: Louise Courvoisier, Producer: Muriel Meynard
Best Foreign Film
“Anora” – Director: Sean Baker
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” – Director: Mohammad Rasoulof
“The Apprentice” – Director: Ali Abbasi
“The Substance” – Director: Coralie Fargeat
WINNER: “The Zone of Interest” – Director: Jonathan Glazer
Best Short Fiction Film
“Noise” – Director: Salomé Da Souza, Producers: Jean-Etienne Brat, Lou Chicoteau
“What Belongs to Caesar” – Director: Violette Gitton, Producers: Jules Reinartz
WINNER: “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent” – Director: Nebojša Slijepčević, Producers: Noëlle Levenez
“Queen Size” – Director: Avril Besson, Producers: Bastien Daret, Arthur Goisset, Robin Robles, Christophe Audeguis
Best Animated Short
WINNER: Yuck! – Director: Loïc Espuche, Producers: Juliette Marquet, Manon Messiant
Gigi – Director: Cynthia Calvi, Producer: Luc Camilli
Butterfly – Director: Florence Miailhe, Producers: Ron Dyens, Luc Camilli
Best Documentary Short
WINNER: “Les Fiancées du Sud” – Director: Elena López Riera, Producers: Sylvie Pialat, Alejandro Arenas Azorín
“Petit Spartacus” – Director: Sara Ganem, Producer: Anne Luthaud
“Un cœur perdu et autres rêves de Beyrouth” – Director: Maya Abdul-Malak, Producer: Anne-Catherine Witt
Honoarary César
Julia Roberts
Costa-Gavras
