All César Awards Winners for Direction
by SciFiCouple | created - 07 Mar 2020 | updated - 04 Mar 2022 | Public
1. Roman Polanski
Director | Chinatown
Roman Polanski is a Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few truly international filmmakers. Roman Polanski was born in Paris in 1933.
His parents returned to Poland from France in 1936, three years ...
5 Césars
2020: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - J'accuse
2014: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - La Vénus à la fourrure
2011: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - The Ghost Writer
2003: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - The Pianist
1980: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Tess
2. Jacques Audiard
Writer | De rouille et d'os
Born in Paris, France, in 1952. Jacques Audiard's family has always been involved in movie business. His father, Michel, was a popular screenwriter and director and his uncle a producer. But in his teens he refused that world and wanted to be a teacher. He studied literature and philosophy at the ...
3 Césars
2019: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Les frères Sisters
2010: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Un prophète
2006: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté
+4 Nominations
3. Alain Resnais
Director | Hiroshima mon amour
Alain Resnais was born on June 3, 1922 in Vannes, Morbihan, France. He was a director and editor, known for Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), Same Old Song (1997) and My American Uncle (1980). He was married to Sabine Azéma and Florence Malraux. He died on March 1, 2014 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, ...
2 Césars
1994: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Smoking/No Smoking
1978: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Providence
+6 Nominations
4. Bertrand Tavernier
Director | Un dimanche à la campagne
Bertrand Tavernier was the son of Geneviève (Dumond) and René Tavernier, who was a publicist, writer, and president of the French PEN club. He was a law student that preferred write film criticisms. He also wrote a few books about American movies. Then his first film won a few awards in France and ...
2 Césars
1997: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Capitaine Conan
1976: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Que la fête commence...
+5 Nominations
5. Claude Sautet
Writer | Un coeur en hiver
Claude Sautet was born on February 23, 1924 in Montrouge, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France. He was a writer and director, known for A Heart in Winter (1992), Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (1995) and The Things of Life (1970). He was married to Graziella Sautet. He died on July 22, 2000 in Paris, ...
2 Césars
1996: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud
1993: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Un coeur en hiverv
+2 Nominations
6. Abdellatif Kechiche
Writer | La vie d'Adèle
Abdellatif Kechiche was born on December 7, 1960 in Tunis, Tunisia. He is a writer and director, known for Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013), Games of Love and Chance (2003) and Poetical Refugee (2000).
2 Césars
2008: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - La graine et le mulet
2005: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - L'esquive
+1 Nomination
7. Albert Dupontel
Actor | Irréversible
Albert Dupontel was born on January 11, 1964 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Seine-et-Oise, France. He is an actor and writer, known for Irreversible (2002), 9-Month Stretch (2013) and See You Up There (2017).
2 Césars
2021: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Adieu les cons
2018: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Au revoir là-haut
+1 Nomination
8. Jean-Jacques Annaud
Director | Der Name der Rose
Jean-Jacques Annaud is a French film director, screenwriter and producer, best known for directing Quest for Fire (1981), The Name of the Rose (1986), The Lover (1992), Seven Years in Tibet (1997) and Wolf Totem (2015). Annaud has received numerous awards for his work, including four César Awards, ...
2 Césars
1989: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - L'ours
1982: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - La guerre du feu
9. André Téchiné
Writer | Les roseaux sauvages
André Téchiné was born on March 13, 1943 in Valence, Tarn-et-Garonne, France. He is a writer and director, known for Wild Reeds (1994), Rendez-vous (1985) and Being 17 (2016).
1 César
1995: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Les roseaux sauvages
+6 Nominations
10. Luc Besson
Writer | Le Cinquième Élément
Luc Besson spent the first years of his life following his parents, scuba diving instructors, around the world. His early life was entirely aquatic. He already showed amazing creativity as a youth, writing early drafts of The Big Blue (1988) and The Fifth Element (1997), as an adolescent bored in ...
1 César
1998: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - The Fifth Element
+5 Nominations
11. Bertrand Blier
Writer | Le bruit des glaçons
Bertrand Blier was born on March 14, 1939 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France. He is a writer and director, known for The Clink of Ice (2010), Too Beautiful for You (1989) and 1, 2, 3, Freeze (1993).
1 César
1990: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Trop belle pour toi
+4 Nominations
12. Arnaud Desplechin
Director | Rois et reine
Arnaud Desplechin was born on October 31, 1960 in Roubaix, Nord, France. He is a director and writer, known for Kings & Queen (2004), The Sentinel (1992) and La vie des morts (1991).
1 César
2016: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse
+4 Nominations
13. Patrice Leconte
Director | Ridicule
Patrice Leconte was born on November 12, 1947 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Ridicule (1996), La fille sur le pont (1999) and Man on the Train (2002).
1 César
1997: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Ridicule
+4 Nominations
14. Michel Deville
Director | Le dossier 51
Michel Deville, a singular talent in French cinema. For, except during a short period where he made two or three standard commercial films (but that was to repay the debts of his own film company, due to the defection of a business partner), Deville made pictures which, without being too elitist, ...
1 César
1986: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Péril en la demeure
+3 Nominations
15. Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Writer | Cyrano de Bergerac
Jean-Paul Rappeneau was born on April 8, 1932 in Auxerre, Yonne, France. He is a writer and director, known for Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), A Matter of Resistance (1966) and Bon Voyage (2003).
1 César
1991: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Cyrano de Bergerac
+3 Nominations
16. François Truffaut
Writer | La nuit américaine
French director François Truffaut began to assiduously go to the movies at age seven. He was also a great reader but not a good pupil. He left school at 14 and started working. In 1947, aged 15, he founded a film club and met André Bazin, a French critic, who became his protector. Bazin helped the ...
1 César
Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Le dernier métro
+2 Nominations
17. Patrice Chéreau
Director | Intimacy
Patrice Chéreau was born on November 2, 1944 in Lézigné, Maine-et-Loire, France. He was a director and actor, known for Intimacy (2001), The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Queen Margot (1994). He died on October 7, 2013 in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France.
1 César
1999: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train
+2 Nominations
18. Alain Corneau
Writer | Tous les matins du monde
Alain Corneau was a Cesar Award-winning French writer-director best known for his multiple collaborations with French cinema superstars Yves Montand, Simone Signoret and Gérard Depardieu. Born on August 7, 1943 in Meung-sur-Loire, Loiret, Corneay trained as a musician but switched his interest to ...
1 César
1992: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Tous les matins du monde
+2 Nominations
19. Michael Haneke
Writer | Caché
A true master of his craft, Michael Haneke is one of the greatest film artists working today and one who challenges his viewers each year and work goes by, with films that reflect real portions of life in realistic, disturbing and unforgettable ways. One of the most genuine filmmakers of the world ...
1 César
2013: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Amour
+1 Nomination
20. Michel Hazanavicius
Writer | The Artist
Michel Hazanavicius was born and raised in Paris, France. His grandparents were originally from Lithuania, but relocated to France in the 1920s. Hazanavicius attended art school, and moved on to work as a director for commercials and television projects. In 1999, he wrote and directed his first ...
1 César
2012: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - The Artist
+1 Nomination
21. Joseph Losey
Director | The Servant
Belonging to an important family clan in Wisconsin, Joseph Losey studied philosophy but was always interested in theater and thus worked together with Bertolt Brecht. After directing some shorts for MGM, he made his first important film, The Boy with Green Hair (1948), for RKO. While he was filming ...
1 César
1977: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Mr. Klein
+1 Nomination
22. Alain Cavalier
Director | Thérèse
Alain Cavalier was born on September 14, 1931 in Vendôme, Loir-et-Cher, France. He is a director and writer, known for Thérèse (1986), Un étrange voyage (1981) and Libera me (1993).
1 César
1987: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Thérèse
+1 Nomination
23. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Director | Un long dimanche de fiançailles
Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a self-taught director who was very quickly interested by cinema, with a predilection for a fantastic cinema where form is as important as the subject. Thus he started directing TV commercials and video clips (such as Julien Clerc in 1984). At the same time he met designer/...
1 César
2002: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
+1 Nomination
24. Leos Carax
Director | Holy Motors
Leos Carax made several short films and also wrote film criticism, then at the age of 24 years made a very strong first feature Boy Meets Girl (1984). The film played at the 1984 Cannes film festival and was a critical triumph. It paved the way for Carax's second feature Bad Blood (1986) (Bad Blood...
1 César
2022: Best Director (Meilleure réalisation) - Annette
+ 1 Nomination
25. Jean-François Richet
Director | L'instinct de mort
Jean-François Richet was born on July 2, 1966 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008), Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (2008) and État des lieux (1995).
1 César
2009: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur)
L'ennemi public n°1 & L'instinct de mort
26. Andrzej Wajda
Director | Katyn
Andrzej Wajda is an Academy Award-winning director. He is the most prominent filmmaker in Poland known for The Promised Land (1975), Man of Iron (1981), and Katyn (2007).
He was Born on March 6, 1926, in Suwalki, Poland. His mother, Aniela Wajda, was a teacher at a Ukrainian school. His father, ...
1 César
1983: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Danton
27. Ettore Scola
Writer | Una giornata particolare
Ettore Scola was born on May 10, 1931 in Trevico, Campania, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for A Special Day (1977), The Family (1987) and Passion of Love (1981). He was married to Gigliola. He died on January 19, 2016 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
1 César
1984: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Le bal
28. Louis Malle
Director | Au revoir les enfants
Louis Malle, the descendant of a French nobleman who made a fortune in beet sugar during the Napoleonic Wars, created films that explored life and its meaning. Malle's family discouraged his early interest in film but, in 1950, allowed him to enter the Institute of Advanced Cinematographic Studies ...
1 César
1988: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Au revoir les enfants
29. Tonie Marshall
Writer | Vénus beauté (institut)
Tonie Marshall was the daughter of French actress Micheline Presle and American actor/director William Marshall, who appeared in such '40s and '50s films as Knute Rockne All American (1940). As a child, Tonie saw her mother "doing movies and getting invited everywhere", and the life of an actress ...
1 César
2000: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Vénus beauté (institut)
30. Dominik Moll
Writer | Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien
Dominik Moll was born on May 7, 1962 in Bühl, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is a writer and director, known for With a Friend Like Harry... (2000), Only the Animals (2019) and The Night of the 12th (2022).
1 César
2001: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien
31. Denys Arcand
Writer | Les invasions barbares
One of Québec's most politically aware filmmakers, Denys Arcand studied history at Université de Montréal, where he co-directed Seul ou avec d'autres (1962) with Denis Héroux and co-written with Stéphane Venne. He joined the National Film Board (NFB) in 1963, where his feature-length documentary on...
1 César
2004: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Les invasions barbares
32. Guillaume Canet
Actor | Jeux d'enfants
Son of horse breeders, the young man spent his childhood in the countryside near Paris. In his youth, Guillaume wanted to be a horse-rider, and briefly followed a professional career in the sport. A bad fall broke his dreams, but is at the origin of his acting career, and success. After briefly ...
1 César
2007: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Ne le dis à personne
33. Abderrahmane Sissako
Director | Timbuktu
Abderrahmane Sissako was born on October 13, 1961 in Kiffa, Mauritania. He is a director and writer, known for Timbuktu (2014), Life on Earth (1998) and Waiting for Happiness (2002).
1 César
2015: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Timbuktu
34. Xavier Dolan
Actor | J'ai tué ma mère
Xavier Dolan was born on March 20, 1989 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for I Killed My Mother (2009), Tom at the Farm (2013) and Heartbeats (2010).
1 César
Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Juste la fin du monde
35. Claude Zidi
Writer | Les ripoux
One of the most successfully commercial directors of France with smash comedy hits as the Charlots , Les Sous-Doués and Les Ripoux series. Also made the first Asterix and Obelix movie, La Totale (later remade by James Cameron as "True Lies") and Banzai (with Coluche). It got him the nickname "Mr. ...
1 César
1985: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - Les ripoux
36. Christian de Chalonge
Director | O Salto
Christian de Chalonge was born on January 21, 1937 in Douai, Nord, France. He is a director and assistant director, known for Voyage of Silence (1967), L'argent des autres (1978) and Malevil (1981).
1 César
1979: Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur) - L'argent des autres
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