50th edition of the César Awards: 25 unforgettable moments in the history of this unmissable event in French cinema

Chaired by Catherine Deneuve, the 50th César ceremony, broadcast live and in the clear on Canal+, will take place on Friday, February 28, at the Olympia, starting at 8:45 p.m.

Since 1976, every year, without interruption, the César Academy rewards the world of the 7th art in different categories: actor, actress, director, screenplay, decor, costumes. The tears of Charlotte Gainsbourg, the blunder of Vanessa Paradis, the emotion of Annie Girardot or the dance of Rabbi Jacob by Valérie Lemercier ... Over time, this ceremony has been the scene of scenes that have become cult.

While waiting for the 50th edition, here are some pictures of the highlights that have marked the history of this ceremony.

Introduced by Jean-Claude Brialy who paid him a warm tribute , Jean Gabin grumbled before declaring the first César ceremony open.

In 1984, Coluche received a César for best actor for Tchao Pantin , which he commented on stage with a somewhat provocative speech. A year later, he read a fake letter from Alain Delon, his successor for the same prize, who was absent from the ceremony.

Winner of the César for Best New Actress for her role in L'Effrontée by Claude Miller, Charlotte Gainsbourg struggles to contain her emotion on stage, shared by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, in the audience with her.

Anemone runs in to receive the César for best actress in Le Grand chemin, then leaves the stage, leaving her trophy behind. Later, she will admit that she is not a big fan of this ceremony. "I find the Césars boring! It's slow, and it's also hyper-hypocritical this session of self-congratulations..."

On the occasion of her 3rd César for her performance in Camille Claudel, Isabelle Adjani read an excerpt from The Satanic Verses by the writer Salman Rushdie, who was threatened by a fatwa. "I'm a little afraid of clashing with the tone of the evening," the actress began. "I wanted to tell you that we thought the exclusion of the artist and his death sentence were over," she continued before reading the excerpt from The Satanic Verses. In 2005, Isabelle Adjani would once again get noticed, this time in a lighter way, by asking for a glass of water. This request became the running gag of the evening, notably with Will Smith, who was awarded an honorary César at this 29th edition, who, mocking the actress, asked for a glass of water in turn.

Vanessa Paradis makes a mistake in the name of the César for Most Promising Actress by announcing Judith Godrèche as the winner before correcting herself to give the name of the real winner, Judith Henry.

A few years later, Vanessa Paradis was "banned from the envelope" before being allowed to announce, with the help of Gad Elmaleh, the César for best director awarded in 2010 to Jacques Audiard for his film The Prophet .

In 1992, the actress received the César for best actress for her role in The Old Woman Who Walked in the Sea by Laurent Heynemann. The audience, standing, gave her a real ovation that seemed never to stop. Jeanne Moreau asked the audience to sit down and began by thanking her "star". "The prize that I am given this evening rewards a certain length of existence and a length of exercise of my profession as an actress", declared the actress with a smile after having greeted her "young" competitors, but also "the boys" , whom she encouraged to persist on the "pitfall-strewn" path of the profession of actor.

Awarded the César for Most Promising Actress for her role in Les Nuits fauves, the actress paid a moving tribute to Cyril Collard, the film's director, who died of AIDS. "I hope you're proud of me, Cyril," the actress said before thanking her father.

In 1996, the actress was rewarded for the first time for her role in Claude Lelouch's Les Misérables . In tears, she declared: "I don't know if French cinema has missed me, but French cinema has missed me madly, desperately, painfully ."

"I'm taking advantage of it, it's not every day that this happens to me," Jamel Debbouze says to Antoine de Caunes who tries to calm him down. The comedian jokes about the length of his partner's legs. "If my legs were 1.24m long, they'd reach my throat," he jokes.

"Excuse me, my French is terrible and I'm not very good at speeches," the actor, who won a César for his career in 1999, declared as an introduction. He then played a short speech that had been recorded beforehand, which demonstrated the opposite: "I don't really understand the concept of awards in general, and I hate the idea of ​​competition. The only one I fight against is myself, to go further each time in my work. No one is better than anyone else, we are just all different. But I am very honored to receive this gift from France, because I love and respect your country very much, a country that gives art the opportunity to stay alive."

In 2001, the Robin Hood troupe launched a new category: the César for best supporting actor, which rewards extras whose faces we never see.

"He's here, he's everywhere, he's my burden as they say," comments the actress, speaking of her father who invited himself onto the stage during the presentation of his double César, best newcomer and best supporting actor for La Petite Lili by Claude Miller. "But hey, I got used to it, it's okay..." she adds.

After opening the ceremony by singing a hit by the group Zouk Machine, Valérie Lemercier, mistress of ceremonies, launched into a wild dance borrowed from the cult film Rabbi Jacob , starring Louis de Funès.

To honor the memory of Romy Schneider, Alain Delon pays tribute to his ex-partner, with whom he shared the stage of La Piscine. "This year, you would have been 70 years old and I miss you terribly," says the actor. "We were happy together, and unhappy when David left," he continues, referring to the accidental death of Romy Schneider's son. The actor then asks the audience "to stand up, for his 70th birthday, and applaud him with me."

Based on an original script, the comedian, before even having had time to do his "seduction dance" , managed to get Sean Penn on stage, who kissed him to the applause and laughter of the audience.

It is in the costume of Tootsie, the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the famous eponymous film by Sydney Pollack, that Elie Semoun presents his honorary Cesar to the American actor. "Mr. Hoffman, on behalf of all women whose standards of beauty do not correspond to the norm, thank you! Thank you for giving a voice to mature women who do not resort to the glitter of cosmetic surgery as is too often the case in our profession," declared the comedian before to call on all women to remain "themselves".

Invited to present the Best Supporting Actor Award, Mathilde Seigner presents her César to Michel Blanc for his role in L'Exercice de l'État by Pierre Schoeller. "Can I say a word? I don't know if it's done, but I would like Didier to come on stage too. Is it possible or not? Because he also deserved the César. Where are you, Didou?" Antoine de Caunes, master of ceremonies, takes charge of the situation.

In 2012, on the occasion of the presentation of the César for best foreign film, Laurent Lafitte entertained the audience with a sketch in which he addressed actress Kate Winslett in English. "Hello Kate, my name is Laurence the Feet" . "I love all your films, especially the last Titanic , even if, and this is my personal opinion, the end is a bit sad" , continues the actor. "It's crazy because as soon as an American actress is excellent, she's English" , he jokes. After announcing the nominations for the " César for best French actress in a foreign film" , the actor admits: "It's a bit childish" .

White mane, cane in hand and dazzling smile, Jean-Paul Belmondo, who passed away on September 6, 2021 at the age of 88 , accepts the tribute paid to him during the 42nd edition of the ceremony. "Your applause goes straight to my heart," thanks the actor, very moved. This moment marks a reconciliation of the actor with this ceremony that he had been shunning since his debut, refusing the only César of his career, received in 1989 for his role in Claude Lelouche's film, Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté . "I have never lacked courage and that is what makes me here today," says the actor, who despite his difficulties in expressing himself, takes the time to thank everyone.

At the 43rd César Awards ceremony, the comedian joked about the consequences of the #MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc movements. "We should be happy because it's clear to everyone, from now on, producers no longer have the right to rape actresses," said the actress, before adding: "On the other hand, there is something that is not clear and that will have to be clarified. It is: do we still have the right to sleep around to get roles? Because if we no longer have the right, we will have to learn lines, go to castings... and we don't have time."

In 2020, Adèle Haenel was nominated for the César Award for Best Actress for her role in Céline Sciamma's film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire . When the César Award for Best Director was announced for director Roman Polanski, accused of rape and pedophilia, for his film J'accuse , nominated 12 times, the actress got up and left the room shouting: "It's shameful. Shameful!", denouncing the complacency of the Césars. In her wake, followed Céline Sciamma, Noémie Merlant, Aïssa Maïga and other people from the team of the film Portrait of a Lady on Fire . As she left, Adèle Haenel declared while applauding: " Long live pedophilia! Bravo pedophilia!"

The actress arrives on stage in Bloody Donkey Skin to present the César for best costumes. "It's Roger's skin in intermittent," she concludes as she undresses, "because now, we're like that, completely naked," concludes the actress, standing on stage in her underwear.

Friends in life, Canadian director Xavier Dolan and actor Gaspard Ulliel received the César Awards for Best Actor and Best Director together in 2017 for the film Juste la fin du monde. During the 47th ceremony, when Gaspard Ulliel died a few weeks earlier following a skiing accident , Xavier Dolan paid tribute to him in an open letter. On the verge of tears throughout this tribute to Gaspard Ulliel, the director concluded: "We still have his talent, and no one can take that away from us."

"After all, I too am a crowd, a crowd facing you. A crowd that looks you in the eye tonight," says Judith Godrèche, greeted with applause from a standing audience. "For some time now, I've been talking, talking, but I can't hear you. A whisper, a half-word, that would be something," continues the actress. Four years after Adèle Haenel's angry outburst, the actress denounces the "level of impunity, denial and privilege" that reign in the film industry. But "Little girls are punks who come back dressed as hamsters," adds the actress, who has filed a complaint against directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon for sexual and physical violence during her adolescence.