Carine Tardieu’s family drama The Ties That Bind Us, based on Alice Ferney’s novel L’Intimité, beat out Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague to take best film at the 51st César awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, held Thursday night at the Olympia theater in Paris.
The Ties That Bind Us also won for best adapted screenplay and the best supporting actress César for Vimala Pons.
Nouvelle Vague, a French-language, black-and-white deep dive into the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 classic Breathless, won best director for Linklater, as well as best cinematography (David Chambille), costume design (Pascaline Chavanne) and editing (Catherine Schwartz).
The love letter to the French New Wave cinema movement was the frontrunner going into this year’s Césars with 10 nominations. Netflix picked up Nouvelle Vague in Cannes, where it had its world premiere.
Laurent Lafitte won best actor for his turn alongside Isabelle Huppert in Thierry Khifla’s comedy drama The Richest Woman In The World, loosely based on the 2010 Bettencourt Affair. Léa Drucker took the best actress honor for her starring role in Dominik Moll’s procedural Case 137.
Stéphane Demoustier’s biographical drama The Great Arch, starring Claes Bang, picked up Césars for production design and visual effects.
Pauline Loquès’s Nino, a drama about a young man navigating a cancer diagnosis, picked up a César for best first feature and the best male newcomer prize for the film’s lead, Canadian actor Théodore Pellerin.
Ugo Bienvenu’s Oscar-nominated Arco, produced by Natalie Portman, won best animated feature and best score for Arnaud Toulon.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar frontrunner One Battle After Another took the César for best international film, beating out The Secret Agent, Black Dog, Sirāt and Sentimental Value.
Canadian funny man Jim Carrey received this year’s honorary César for lifetime achievement. Speaking in thickly anglo-accented French, Carrey said his “great, great, great, great, great, great-grandfather, Marc-François Carré,” was born in France, in Saint Malo, some 300 years ago and emigrated to Canada. “Tonight with this magnificent honor, this square (carré in French) has come full circle,” he said.
The ceremony also paid tribute to French icon Brigitte Bardot, who died on Dec. 28, with a retrospective reel of her career highlights, including scenes from French classics And God Created Woman (1956) and Contempt (1963).
Full list of 2026 César winners below
Best Film
The Ties That Bind Us
Best Director
Richard Linklater, Nouvelle Vague
Best Actress
Léa Drucker, Case 137
Best Actor
Laurent Lafitte, The Richest Woman in the World
Best Supporting Actress
Vimala Pons, The Ties That Bind Us
Best Supporting Actor
Pierre Lottin, The Stranger
Best Female Newcomer
Nadia Melliti, The Little Sister
Best Male Newcomer
Théodore Pellerin, Nino
Best Original Screenplay
Franck Dubosc, Sarah Kaminsky, How to Make a Killing
Best Adapted Screenplay
Carine Tardieu, Raphaëlle Moussafir, Agnès Feuvre, The Ties That Bind Us
Best International Film
One Battle After Another, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Best Original Score
Arnaud Toulon, Arco
Best Sound
Romain Cadilhac, Marc Namblard, Olivier Touche, Olivier Goinard for Whispers in the Woods
Best Cinematography
David Chambille, Nouvelle Vague
Best Editing
Catherine Schwartz, Nouvelle Vague
Best Costume Design
Pascaline Chavanne, Nouvelle Vague
Best Production Design
Catherine Cosme, The Grand Arch
Best Visual Effects
Lise Fischer, The Great Arch
Best Female Newcomer
Nadia Melliti forThe Little Sister
Best Male Newcomer
Théodore Pellerin for Nino
Best First Film
Nino, dir. Pauline Loqués
Best Animated Feature
Arco, dir. Ugo Bienvenu
Best Documentary
Whispers in the Woods, dir. Vincent Munier
Best Animated Short Film
Fille de l’eau, dir. Sandra Desmazières
Best Short Documentary
Au bain des dames dir. Margaux Fournier
