Paris (AFP)

After the collective resignation of the leadership of the Academy of Caesar, accused of opacity and self-esteem, a board of directors will be held Wednesday to appoint an interim president to replace Alain Terzian and convene a general meeting, announced the president of the National Cinema Center (CNC).

"On Wednesday, there will be a first board of directors, to first appoint a new president during this transitional period, but also to convene an extraordinary general meeting, at the latest in six weeks, which will have to adopt a first reform of the statutes, therefore the enlargement of its members, "said Dominique Boutonnat on Monday evening.

"I have confidence in our ability to give new impetus to the Academy of Caesar by next summer," he said during a speech at the dinner of producers of Caesar, during which was awarded the Daniel Toscan du Plantier prize.

This prize, which distinguishes the best French producer of the year, was awarded to Toufik Ayadi and Christophe Barral, producers of the film punch on the suburbs "Les Misérables" by Ladj Ly.

"We are going to work together, all throughout March, so that the Academy is like cinema and society today," he promised, quoting "four guiding principles". for this work: "a democratic principle", "transparency", the idea of ​​"strengthening parity and diversity, both in the authorities but also in the selection process of members", and the fact of "limiting in time the mandates of its leaders ".

The management of the Académie des César, chaired since 2003 by producer Alain Terzian, resigned en bloc in mid-February, just two weeks before the award ceremony for these awards for French cinema, to be held on Friday evening.

This resignation will renew the César board of directors, made up of 21 people, including the filmmakers Costa Gavras, Claude Lelouch or Tonie Marshall. The council oversees the Association for the Promotion of Cinema (APC), composed of 47 members, which itself governs the Academy of the Cesars, made up of 4,700 cinema professionals.

The crisis, which had been brewing for weeks, had taken a new dimension with the publication of a forum of more than 400 personalities including Omar Sy, Jacques Audiard or Céline Sciamma, demanding a "reform in depth".

Alain Terzian had just announced measures to establish parity within the college of voters (35% women currently), the board of directors (28.5% women) and the APC (17% women), but they were deemed insufficient.

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