A little less than a month from the 47th Cesar ceremony, we take stock of the 2022 edition: what will be the tone instilled by Antoine de Caunes? What actions will be put in place for a more peaceful ceremony? We tell you everything!
After tense 2020 and 2021 ceremonies, how is the 2022 edition of the Césars shaping up? AlloCiné was able to speak with Antoine de Caunes, master of ceremonies for this 47th edition, who will have the complicated mission of leading a more peaceful evening, and Véronique Cayla, president of the Académie des César, since September 2020, succeeding Alain Terzyan.
What state of mind for the 2022 ceremony?
As we know, the March 2021 ceremony caused a lot of ink to flow and aroused many negative reactions, after an already particularly stormy 2020 edition marked by the departure of Adèle Haenel and the controversy around Roman Polanski.
César 2021: Corinne Masiero naked on stage to denounce the situation of Culture
The objective of this year is clearly to move towards a peaceful ceremony, “joyful” and “put the cinema back at the heart of the evening“. Antoine de Caunes, who admits having “not hesitate“to accept this mission, concedes that he would not have liked to be in Marina Fois’ place last year and acknowledges wanting to avoid happenings”trash“like the one that Corinne Masiero unveiled by surprise in 2021, stripping herself completely bare. This gesture had provoked a large number of reactions, whether enthusiastic or, conversely, very negative.”If we can avoid this register, we will avoid“says Antoine de Caunes.
“Yes it’s the 10th that I present the ceremony, but it’s been a while since the last time [sa dernière prestation remonte en effet à 2013, Ndlr.]. It’s not an easy evening to build. We all know the difficulties of exercise.“
César: Antoine de Caunes, record holder of the masters of ceremonies
And to add:And at the same time, I want this year because I find it very important to make people want to return to theaters. We are coming out of the hardcore confinement that we have known a little bit and the cinema has come back to life. There are above all plenty of films with tonalities represented, so there is material.”
Same observation regarding this year of cinema for Véronique Cayla, president of the Académie des César: “[ces nominations m’inspirent] a lot of joy and it is essential to show that there is everything in French cinema. There are a lot of things that are serious, difficult, but also films that are very joyful, very musical. There is musical comedy in the films that have been noticed, if only Annette by Leos Carax, and there is also the film by Valérie Lemercier..”
“Something I noticed with great pleasureshe continues: among the votes for the best director, there are three women, which is a lot, which is gratifying given all the efforts we are making to ensure that French cinema is as equal as possible. (…) The Césars are a gathering place for all the great films“, she sums up to our microphone.
How to renew for this 10th time at the helm? “The mood is different, the movies are different,” emphasizes Antoine de Caunes. I will try other things but in the tone that is mine“.
Elegance? Impertinence? What humor for this 47th ceremony?
“I’m not hired to be funny, it’s more subtle than that“, indicates Antoine de Caunes who insists on putting the cinema back at the heart of the event, as evidenced by the trailer which was revealed today.
Antoine de Caunes hopes for emotion and laughter. “It’s the ideal cocktail that I imagine at the Caesars.” To write, he surrounded himself with Bertrand Delaire, artistic director of the ceremony, showrunner (and author in the past of the after-sales service of Omar and Fred), comedian Marina Rollman, journalist Charline Roux (accomplice of Antoine de Caunes in the program Popopop on France Inter), Martin de Jordy & Martin.And I think we’ll be joined by Thomas Bidegain“. The latter, a screenwriter in high demand, is currently working on the new film by Jacques Audiard.
“We will avoid gratuitous provocation which only pleases its author“, explains Antoine de Caunes. “We will never be unanimous, but we want to celebrate cinema as art and entertainment and make the evening as warm as possible.. (…) One of the tasks is to relax, fight against boredom“.
Would he want a more impertinent humor like a Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes? “I would dream of trying to do it but it’s not the mood of the room. We can laugh at everything he continues, but everything depends on the tone and manner. It’s a matter of measure and mood“.
“By choosing a master of ceremonies who has humor, and elegance in his humor, we are sure to have a ceremony that is very eclectic and very much in search of a humor to share together, it is obviously fundamental“, says Véronique Cayla.
What form will the ceremony take?
Will there be people in the room to appreciate the ceremony presented by Antoine de Caunes? To date, the answer is yes, hidden but without a gauge. As Antoine de Caunes points out, L’Olympia can accommodate 1,700 people, so there will be no need to reduce its capacity.
“The tone is more on reopening than on closing“, continues Véronique Cayla. “But we could very well have a situation that evolves in the opposite direction so we cannot guarantee anything.”she adds, cautious, as to the health context.
“I cross my fingers but the room will be full, with the public, which seems very important to me”, adds Antoine de Caunes. “This should allow us to be between ourselves as we were forced to be last year. It’s a good sign to be able to continue in the hall of the Olympia and with Antoine de Caunes who knows well and appreciates it” says Véronique Cayla.
Where are we with the reforms of the Académie des César?
“We completed a whole package of reforms just at the end of last year“, tells us Véronique Cayla, President of the Academy. “This reform of the statutes will allow us, I think, to better control the way of working inside the Césars. All this was voted unanimously last year by the board of directors“.”We have also made progress on the way of working with Canal+, because the ceremony is in co-production“, she recalls.
The Academy has also worked on the issue of parity. It has just over 4,000 members, and we are told that there were 475 new members admitted, 60% of whom were women, an increase of 4 points compared to last year.
“We are now at almost complete parity. We are now less than 60% male members, and over 40% female members in the Academy. As for all of our César operations, we are totally equal“.
Antoine de Caunes has also indicated that parity will be respected for the remitters during the ceremony (no name has yet been announced).
Belmondo and Ulliel in the spotlight
2021 had been marked by a particularly important tribute to the disappeared, given the number of deaths. For 2022, “there are two that are essential for everyone, it’s obvious: Belmondo of course and Gaspard Ulliel who has just died in absolutely dramatic conditions“, says Véronique Cayla. “We still have time to think about it and work on it, but on Belmondo we have already planned things including the poster which is a very nice tribute“.
Remember that the ceremony will take place on Friday February 25 at 9 p.m., live from L’Olympia, broadcast live on CANAL+ and Europe 1, the event’s radio partner.