"Out Even with Only Sexual Crime Allegations"... New Policy for French C?sar Awards

Out of Respect for Victims... Excluded from the List of Leading Candidates

The C?sar Awards, known as the "French Oscars," announced that they will not invite individuals accused of sexual crimes to the ceremony.

On the 2nd (local time), according to Variety and others, the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques, which hosts the C?sar Awards ceremony, announced a policy that individuals under investigation for sexual crime allegations cannot attend the ceremony even before being formally charged.

In a statement released that day, the Academy explained, "Even if not charged or convicted, out of respect for the victims, we have decided not to highlight individuals under investigation by judicial authorities for sexual crimes or gender-based violence." This includes "those currently facing possible imprisonment for such acts."

Director Roman Polanski.

However, the Academy has not yet reached a conclusion on whether to ban these individuals from winning C?sar Awards themselves and is still discussing the matter. For now, instead of removing actors, producers, and directors eligible to attend the ceremony from the list, they have taken measures to prevent them from attending the event. According to this guideline, if a person accused of sexual crimes wins a C?sar Award, no one is allowed to speak on their behalf during the acceptance speech.

Recently in France, actor Sofiane Bennaceur (25), who appeared in the film Les Amandiers invited to last year's Cannes Film Festival, has been accused multiple times of sexual crimes. The film industry has seen heated controversy over Bennaceur being nominated for the C?sar Award for Best Newcomer. Bennaceur denies the allegations against him, but after reports emerged that he was under police investigation for sexual assault and violent acts, the Academy ultimately decided to exclude him from the final nominees.

Previously, the C?sar Awards faced major controversy in 2020 when they awarded director Roman Polanski, who has a history of child sexual offenses. Polanski is suspected of committing multiple sexual crimes against minors in the United States and Europe. At that time, Polanski's film An Officer and a Spy was already controversial from the moment it was nominated, but the Academy nominated him in 12 categories including Best Film and Best Screenplay.

The film industry voiced strong condemnation of the Academy, but Polanski ultimately received the Best Director and Best Costume Design awards. When Polanski was announced as the Best Director winner, actress Ad?le Haenel, who was nominated for Best Actress for Portrait of a Lady on Fire, shouted "Long live pedophilia" and stormed out, an incident that was broadcast live.

Following the backlash after Polanski's award controversy, radical reforms were made to the C?sar Awards' leadership and operational model. The Academy announced that it will discuss ultimate and long-term changes to the eligibility rules through voting to be held in the first half of this year. Meanwhile, the 42nd C?sar Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 24. The C?sar Awards, established in 1976, is France's most prestigious domestic awards ceremony and has produced many Oscar winners for Best Foreign Language Film.