- The Caesars, which will take place on February 28, were marred by controversy surrounding the nomination, 12 times, of the film J'accuse by Roman Polanski, a filmmaker accused by eleven women of sexual violence.
- The Académie des César is today made up of 35% women, a situation that its president judges "anachronistic".
- "We are going to massively open the college of voters to 700 or 800 additional women," says Alain Terzian.
A strict parity between women and men will be established within the Académie des César, of which currently only 35% of the members are women, announced its president Alain Terzian in the Sunday Journal. “Today, of the 4,680 members of the Academy, including 4,313 up to date with their subscription, we have 65% men and 35% women. It is anachronistic in relation to our society, ”says Alain Terzian, head of the Academy since 2003.
“So we are going to carry out a cultural revolution to reach parity, a real 50/50. We are going to massively open to 700 or 800 additional women the college of voters, "he said, indicating that the reform will be validated in the spring by an extraordinary assembly.
Parity on the board of directors for the end of 2020
In order to accommodate more candidates, the regulations could be relaxed, for example by stipulating that you must have worked on "two films in five years and not three". At the level of the authorities, "the 50/50 will be applied at all levels", says Alain Terzian. “At the end of 2020, we will see that (parity) is respected on the board of directors. To reach it without excluding anyone, we will bring in ten to twelve women as new qualified personalities ”.
Recognizing that "we could have woken up earlier", he nevertheless hopes that the Césars will be credited "for setting an example and that there will be repercussions in all French cinema".
Limit the number of mandates
The Academy was created in 1975 by the journalist and producer Georges Cravenne, who designated a college of founders rewarded by an Oscar like Claude Berri, Claude Lelouch, Michel Legrand or Costa-Gavras. Even if this college is "today quite old" despite the presence of Alexandre Desplat or Juliette Binoche, the president of the Cesars stresses that the assembly could decide to limit the number of mandates, currently renewed every five years.
Asked about the controversy Roman Polanski, targeted by a new rape accusation and whose film "J'accuse" is at the top of the nominations for the ceremony on February 28, Alain Terzian remarks that "if there are as many women as there 'men who vote, it may change the nominations and the prize lists'.
"Complicated climate"
Alain Terzian, who had estimated at the time of the announcement of the nominations that the Césars are "not an authority which must have moral positions", recognizes all the same in the JDD a "complicated" climate around this 45th ceremony.
He also took the opportunity to react to the criticisms which described his management as "opaque": "I do not make any decision alone. For example, it is not me who will choose the women who will join us. "
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