Césars 2022: master of ceremonies Antoine de Caunes reveals what he is preparing

Alexis Patri 11:11 a.m., February 21, 2022

INTERVIEW

D-4.

Friday evening, Antoine de Caunes will present the 47th Cesar ceremony.

The master of ceremonies confides Monday at the microphone of 

on some of the surprises he is preparing, but also on his stress as the evening approaches, broadcast live on Canal +, in partnership with Europe 1. am going to try to do it my way, as always: respecting the cinema, without taking it too seriously”, warns the troublemaker.

"We are in the country that invented cinema, so there is a spirit of seriousness when we talk about it."

>> Find Philippe Vandel and Culture-Médias every day from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Europe 1 as well as in replay and podcast here

“You have to try to keep a little tempo”

For the presentation of his 10th Cesar ceremony, Antoine de Caunes once again wants to put his paw down.

"There is a railroad to respect: the number of Caesars to be handed over, the tributes, the moment of the missing, the Honorary Caesar ... All of this is essential", he recalls.

"But you have to try to keep a bit of tempo in the story. So asking the Caesarized to thank, sure, but maybe not the whole universe. Maybe just a department."

The master of ceremonies also wants the Caesarized to go on stage "with something to say".

“Whatever that thing to say,” he clarifies.

"Whether people go on stage to shout or rejoice, it's a moment of the ceremony that escapes me."

The Sonic Orchestra and Mehdi Kerchouche's troupe

To keep the tempo of the evening, Antoine de Caunes has also planned a few surprises.

"There will be little bagpipes," he reassures with a smile. "But there will be Thomas de Pourquery's orchestra, the Sonic Orchestra. It's a big orchestra, with a lot of brass. There will be also Mehdi Kerkouche and his dancers."

"But I'm not going to tell you too much! No, I don't see why I would give you names of remitters," he jokes.

"We tried to balance so that parity is respected, I'm very keen on that. But also that all age groups are there, young talents as well as more established actors and actresses. So all of this would be very equitably distributed ."

"I'm smashing Pierre Tchernia's record"

Four days before the ceremony, Antoine de Caunes ensures that everything is ready.

Or almost.

"As always, we are in the final adjustments. But we have three full days to rehearse, so that's fine. The Césars are a long preparation that begins three or four months before with writing, researching ideas, the manufacture of magnetos, making contact with potential presenters and the César d'honneur", he explains.

"It's being put in place gradually, with the good ideas that stay and the false good ideas that leave."

It must be said that Antoine de Caunes, who will present his 10th Cesar ceremony, is well versed in the exercise.

"I accepted because I was asked nicely. When it's asked like that, there's no reason to refuse," he says deadpan.

"The real reason is that I wanted to beat Pierre Tchernia's record. He presented the Césars nine times. And now I'm smashing this historic record."

>> READ ALSO - 

 César 2022: two new categories announced

In the preparation of his record, Antoine de Caunes surrounded himself, in particular, with the screenwriter Thomas Bidegain, the comedian Marina Rollman, the journalist Charline Roux, the director Martín Redondo, and the artistic director of the ceremony, Bertand Delaire ."

The shadow of the previous edition

Still, this 47th ceremony will be scrutinized, after the controversy of the previous year.

"The Caesars are always a headache, we are always waiting for you at the turn", recognizes Antoine de Caunes.

"Last year was absolutely terrible: very few films were released, so the competition had little stakes. And on top of that, there was no audience. So everything was in place to make the evening impossible to do . I take an active defense of Marina Foïs who presented the ceremony and of the band that stuck to it. They did with the means at hand, but everything was against them.

>> READ ALSO -

 Cesar ceremony: discover the list of nominees for the 47th edition

The master of the 47th Cesar ceremony also returns to the attacks suffered by the actress Corinne Masiero, after she went naked on stage last year to warn of the situation in the world of culture.

"What she did last year was a happening, a performance," he recalls.

"I too got naked on stage. It was just a matter of circumstances. But it's not a big deal either."

The new pressure of social networks

Antoine de Caunes confides that, accustomed as he is to presenting the Césars, he does not attack the exercise light-heartedly.

"It's a big stress shot, it would be dishonest to say otherwise," he admits.

"There are so many elements gathered that evening for it to go into a spin! So yes, we are stressed."

Especially since since the last ceremony he presented in 2013, social networks have taken a new place.

"Today, you have reactions from minute to minute. But I do not live the ceremony with a phone in hand", he nuances.

"But that changes things: there is a very summary judgment along the way, without taking into account the whole. Out, that's what counts for an evening like this."

The 47th Cesar ceremony is to be experienced on Friday evening from 8:55 p.m. on Canal + and on Europe 1.