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.

Studiocanal

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