The Academy
Our story
Birth of the Academy
The “Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma” was created in 1975 on the initiative of Georges Cravenne.
It brings together professionals from the film industry and personalities who have chosen to come together in order to recall the eminently collective nature of film creation, and to draw the public’s attention to these professionals who, through the passionate and demanding combination of their skills, underpin the essential singularity of cinema film.
Georges Cravenne
To manage this Academy, Georges Cravenne created at the same time an association 1901, the Association for the Promotion of Cinema (APC). It brings together all the Oscar-winners in France and thirteen professional personalities from the film industry.
“The Oscars, I believe, were born in 1927. I was 13 at the time, and since that age (now very distant!) I have always been obsessed with the existence of this emblematic character, not of flesh and bones, but of bronze and gold, whose reputation was worldwide. Jealousy? Emulation?
Still, the idea of creating a French equivalent germinated in me, until the day when the name of my friend César, a sculptor of genius, imposed itself on me and his sculpture with him. Oscar, César, five letters that rhymed to such an extent that the birth of the second one had become obvious, for the greater good of the promotion of cinema, in Europe in any case.”
The César
The “César” is the trophy awarded each year to the winners of the César Ceremony.
It is a personalised reproduction of the work or art specially created by the sculptor César at the request of Georges Cravenne, when the Academy was founded. César created a first version for the 1976 Ceremony, before completing the actual compression of the statuette for the 2nd Ceremony in 1977.
The César measures 30 cm and weighs about 3.7 kg.
The Presidents of the Academy
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Véronique Cayla
from September, 29, 2020
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Margaret Menegoz
from February 2020 to September 2020
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Alain Terzian
from 2003 to 2020
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Daniel Toscan du Plantier
from 1992 to 2003
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Jean-Loup Dabadie
from 1990 to 1992
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Alexandre Mnouchkine
from 1988 to 1990
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Jeanne Moreau
from 1986 to 1988
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Robert Enrico
from 1976 to 1986