49th César Awards

The 49th César Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, took place on 23 February 2024 at the Olympia in Paris, to honour the best French films of 2023. Valérie Lemercier presided over the ceremony, after serving as the host for three previous editions (2006, 2007, and 2010). Mirroring the previous ceremony, multiple actors and filmmakers hosted the 49th iteration: Ariane Ascaride, Bérénice Bejo, Dali Benssalah, Juliette Binoche, Dany Boon, Bastien Bouillon, Audrey Diwan, Ana Girardot, Diane Kruger, Benoît Magimel, Paul Mirabel, Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Jean-Pascal Zadi.

Agnès Jaoui and Christopher Nolan each received the Honorary César; Nolan's award was presented by Marion Cotillard, while Jaoui's was presented by Jamel Debbouze. In designing the official poster for the 49th ceremony, the Académie chose to feature a still frame taken from Michel Ocelot's short film La Belle Fille et le Sorcier (1992), in an ode to animation and short films. The nominations were announced on 24 January 2024. The Animal Kingdom led with 12 nominations, followed by Anatomy of a Fall and All Your Faces with 11 and nine, respectively. Anatomy of a Fall went on to win six awards, more than any other film in the ceremony, including Best Film. For her work on the film, Justine Triet became the second woman in history to win Best Director.

Before nominations were announced, the Académie shared in a communiqué that they would extend and expand their fledgling protocols, which were placed during the previous ceremony, that governed how the body handles people who are under judicial investigation for violent crimes. In the wake of a second wave of the #MeToo movement in French cinema, Judith Godrèche, who accused directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of sexual abuse, gave a speech on sexual violence and addressed the French film industry's omertà around #MeToo.