Paris (AFP)

A respected former director of the audiovisual industry accompanied by one of the most prominent directors of French cinema: Véronique Cayla and Eric Toledano should take the presidency of the César, with the heavy task of getting this institution of the 7th art out of a crisis historical.

Their election at the head of the Academy is only a formality, and should be recorded on Tuesday by the general assembly, in a vote by video-conference for which no quorum is required: this equal duo is the the only candidate to stand after a "very open" process, according to interim president Margaret Menegoz.

The flagship institution of French cinema, which had exploded in flight at the beginning of the year, undermined by accusations of self-esteem, opacity and lack of diversity, would thus carry at its head two personalities "respected and very different ", from the world of cinema, underlines Ms. Menegoz.

Véronique Cayla, 70, has held senior management positions in television and cinema (at the head of the National Cinema Center, then Arte, which she left this summer).

Eric Toledano, 49, is a filmmaker and author of successful films made with Olivier Nakache, including "Intouchables", "Le sens de la fête" or "Hors Norms".

- "The times are changing" -

Several personalities from the field welcomed their announced arrival: producer Marc Missonnier assured them of the support of "the whole profession to help them renovate the academy" of the César;

the president of the Superior council of audio-visual, Roch-Olivier Maistre, judges them "up to the stakes" for a world of cinema lacking "unity".

"Times are changing. We must change with them. This is not to deny a number of things that have been done, but we must leave the place", commented for his part the former president of the Cannes festival Gilles Jacob, welcoming the choice of these personalities to AFP.

Their task promises to be tough.

Since the resignation in February of the former boss of the Caesar, Alain Terzian and the entire management, crises and controversies have been linked.

A few days later after the resignation, the Caesar ceremony had caused a new storm, with the presentation of the Caesar for best director Roman Polanski, targeted by accusations of rape.

The image of the shattering departure of actress Adele Haenel, leaving the room by launching "Bravo pedophilia!", Had marked the evening.

- Mandatory parity -

This César given to Polanski symbolizes, for feminists, the sexism that continues to poison French cinema and its difficulty in reforming, after the #MeToo wave of denunciations of acts of harassment and sexual violence born in the United States and with few repercussions in France.

Since then, while some questioned their existence, the Caesars have undertaken an extensive renovation, under the aegis of the National Cinema Center, the culmination of which is the election of new leaders on Tuesday.

Opaque procedures have been changed, and parity imposed in all representative bodies.

Alas, the controversies were quick to resurface, especially in September, when the list of 182 new directors was unveiled.

Alongside dozens of newly appointed professionals, the presence of 18 "historic" members who chose to stay at the Caesar caused unease.

Among them, Roman Polanski, authorized to sit as an Oscar winner (for "The Pianist" in 2003).

Faced with the bronca, he finally announced Friday that he would not participate in the decisions of the new Acadamy of the Caesar and therefore in the vote on Tuesday.

© 2020 AFP