‘Blue is the Warmest Color,’ ‘The Past,’ ‘Stranger by the Lake’ land César nods

An autobiographical comedy in which Gallienne plays both himself and his doting mother, the film won top honors in Directors' Fortnight at Cannes and has been a local box-office hit, but has yet to make much of an impact on the international circuit. It could potentially be France's next submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, particularly if it pulls off a big win here — though a belated entry for “Blue is the Warmest Color” is also among the possibilities. (Meanwhile, there wasn't much home support for last year's French submission: “Renoir” scored nominations only for lead actor Michel Bouquet and its very pretty visual contributions.)

Elsewhere, it's worth noting that the Césars' love for renowned veteran auteurs dies hard: Arnaud Desplechin's “Jimmy P” wasn't well received by the non-French contingent at Cannes, but it landed three top nods, including Best Picture. And the voters were loyal as ever to Roman Polanski, whose chamber piece “Venus in Fur” is also up for top honors. Finally, note that only one of the “Blue is the Warmest Color” leads — Léa Seydoux — is up for Best Actress, while Adèle Exarchopoulos must compete in the Best Newcomer category. I'm not sure if the one precludes the other by César rules, but it's a harsh call either way.

Winners will be revealed at a Paris ceremony on February 28. Full list of nominees below:

Best Picture
9 Mois Ferme
Me, Myself and Mum
Stranger By The Lake
Jimmy P
The Past
Venus In Fur
Blue Is The Warmest Color

Best Director
Albert Dupontel, 9 Mois Ferme
Guillaume Gallienne, Me, Myself and Mum
Alain Guiraudie, Stranger By The Lake
Arnaud Desplechin, Jimmy P
Asghar Farhadi, The Past
Roman Polanski Venus In Fur
Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue Is The Warmest Color

Best Actress
Fanny Ardant, Les Beaux Jours
Bérénice Bejo, The Past
Catherine Deneuve, Elle S”En Va
Sara Forestier, Suzanne
Sandrine Kiberlain, 9 Mois Ferme
Emmanuelle Seigner, Venus In Fur
Léa Seydoux, Blue Is The Warmest Color

Best Actor
Mathieu Amalric, Venus In Fur
Michel Bouquet, Renoir
Albert Dupontel, 9 Mois Ferme
Grégory Gadebois, Mon Ame Par Toi Guérie
Guillaume Gallienne, Me, Myself and Mum
Fabrice Luchini, Alceste A Bicyclette
Mads Mikkelsen, Michael Kohlhaas

Best Supporting Actress
Marisa Borini, Un Château En Italie
Françoise Fabian, Me, Myself and Mum
Julie Gayet, Quai D”Orsay
Adèle Haenel, Suzanne
Géraldine Pailhas, Jeune Et Jolie

Best Supporting Actor
Niels Arestrup, Quai D”Orsay
Patrick Chesnais, Les Beaux Jours
Patrick D”Assumçao, Stranger By The Lake
François Damiens, Suzanne
Olivier Gourmet, Grand Central

Best Female Newcomer
Lou De Laâge, Jappeloup
Pauline Etienne, La Réliguieuse
Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue Is The Warmest Color
Golshifteh Farahani, Syngué Sabour – Pierre De Patience
Marine Vacth, Jeune Et Jolie

Best Male Newcomer
Paul Bartel, Les Petits Princes
Pierre Deladonchamps, Stranger By The Lake
Paul Hamy, Suzanne
Vincent Macaigne, La Fille du 14 Juillet
Nemo Schiffman, Elle S”En Va

Best Original Screenplay
Albert Dupontel, 9 Mois Ferme
Philippe Le Guay, Alceste A Bicyclette
Alain Guiraudie, Stranger By The Lake
Asghar Farhadi, The Past
Katell Quillévéré & Mariette Désert, Suzanne

Best Adapted Screenplay
Guilaume Gallienne, Me, Myself and Mum
Arnaud Desplechin, Julie Peyr & Kent Jones, Jimmy P
Antonin Baudry, Christophe Blain & Bertrand Tavernier, Quai D”Orsay
David Ives & Roman Polanski, Venus In Fur
Abdellatif Kechiche & Ghalya Lacrois, Blue Is The Warmest Color

Best Foreign Film
The Broken Circle Breakdown
Blancanieves
Blue Jasmine
Dead Man Talking
Django Unchained
The Great Beauty
Gravity

Best Documentary
Comment J”ai Détesté Les Maths, Olivier Peyon
Le Dernier Des Injustes, Claude Lanzmann
Il Etait Une Fôret, Luc Jacquet
La Maison De La Radio, Nicolas Philibert
Sur Le Chemin De L”Ecole, Pascal Plisson

Best Animated Feature
Aya De Yopougon, Marguerite Abouet & Clément Oubrerie
Loulou L”Incroyable Secret, Eric Omond
Ma Maman Est En Amérique, Elle A Rencontré Buffalo Bill, Marc Boréal & Thibaut Chatel

Best Debut Feature
La Bataille De Solférino, Justine Triet
La Cage Dorée, Ruben Alves
En Solitaire, Christophe Offenstein
La Fille Du 14 Juillet, Antonin Peretjatko
Me, Myself and Mum, Guillaume Gallienne

Best Cinematography
Thomas Hardmeier, The Young And Prodigious Mr Spivet
Claire Mathon, Stranger By The Lake
Jeanne Lapoire, Michael Kohlhaas
Mark Ping Bing Lee, Renoir
Sofian El Fani, Blue Is The Warmest Color

Best Art Direction
Stéphane Rozenbaum, Mood Indigo
Aline Bonetto, The Young And Prodigious Mr Spivet
Sylvie Olivé, Me, Myself and Mum
Yan Arlaud, Michael Kohlhaas
Benoît Barouh, Renoir

Best Costume Design
Florence Fontaine, Mood Indigo
Madeline Fontaine, The Young And Prodigious Mr Spivet
Olivier Bériot, Me, Myself and Mum
Anina Diener, Michael Kohlhaas
Pascaline Chavanne, Renoir

Best Original Score
Jorge Arriagada, Alceste A Bicyclette
Loïk Dury & Christophe ‘Disco” Minck, Casse Tête Chinois
Etienne Charry, Mood Indigo
Martin Wheeler, Michael Kohlhaas
Alexandre Desplat, Venus In Fur

Best Editing
Christophe Pinel, 9 Mois Ferme
Valérie Deseine, Me, Myself and Mum
Jean-Christophe Hym, Stranger By The Lake
Juliette Welfling, The Past
Camille Toubkis, Albertine Lastera & Jean-Marie Lengellé, Blue Is The Warmest Color

Best Sound
Marc-Antoine Beldent, Loïc Prian & Olivier Dô Hùu, Me, Myself and Mum
Philippe Grivel & Nathalie Vidal, Stranger By The Lake
Jean-Pierre Duret, Jean Mallet & Mélissa Petitjean, Michael Kohlhaas
Lucien Balibar, Nadine Muse & Cyril Holtz, Venus In Fur
Jérôme Chenevoy, Fabien Pochet & Jean-Paul Hurier, Blue Is The Warmest Color

Best Animated Short
Lettres Des Femmes, Augusto Zanovello
Mademoiselle Kiki Et Les Montparnos, Amélie Harrault