While the 49th César ceremony will take place this evening, the 50/50 Collective is concerned about the lack of diversity and equality within the electoral college itself which decides on the pre-selection of the evening's winners.
It should be remembered that the voting system for the Caesars works in two rounds.
The first, which ends between the end of January and mid-February, allows voters to choose several films and several people in the different categories.
The final nominations are then communicated to them and, between mid-February and the day of the ceremony, members nominate the favorite films and film professionals in each category.
The winners will only be revealed on the evening of the ceremony.
The voters themselves are necessarily cinema professionals.
Although the list is confidential,
HuffingtonPost
recalls that there are
“no less than 4,694 of which 56.5% are men and 43.5% women (compared to 30% in 2020)”
for the 2024 edition. A lack of parity and socio-professional diversity with indirect consequences on the winners of the evening.
Two members of the Collective 50/50, Lahoucine Grimich, producer, and Fanny de Casimacker, general delegate of the Collective, pointed out these inadequacies in the columns of
HuffingtonPost
.
Parity and diversity at the Césars: a change in mentality that takes time
Lahoucine Grimich recalls that, this year, among the pre-appointed male and female hopefuls, twelve were from diverse backgrounds.
There are no longer any in the official list of nominees.
However, he adds, since the #OscarsSoWhite, which emerged in 2015 in reaction to an Oscar ceremony where no nominees were from diversity, and since the Polanski and Bennacer scandals - to name a few - the Académie des César works
“to diversify the electoral college”
by including more women, young people or people with foreign origins.
While these efforts at transparency and parity deserve to be welcomed, they are still too timid, according to the two activists.
“For example, for distribution, they
(the Academy Editor's note)
made sure to seek more diversity in the profiles,”
explains Fanny de Casimacker,
particularly on issues of parity.
But they are still relatively stuck there, since they only include business managers or members of management,”
she adds.
“However, if we analyze parity in distribution and production companies, we will always have many more men than women in management
,” underlines the general delegate of the Collective 50/50.
As a result, women who have roles of responsibility but who are not considered members of “management” are harmed:
“They cannot be selected to be eligible to vote for the Césars,”
she deplores. .
A “sclerosing inter-self”
“To become a member of the Academy, you must be a station manager, be in management of companies and be sponsored by two people. So you must already have a network, already be in the “cinema family”
,” remarks Fanny De Casimacker, general delegate of the Collective.
As far as diversity is concerned, the trickle-down effect between the group of voters and the list of nominees is just as significant.
“For production, you have to prove that you have produced quite a few things, so that means that you only join the Academy at a certain age,”
explains Lahoucine Grimich.
Which limits a lot of things because we know that there is also more diversity in the younger generations.
And this system of co-optation, such as it is today, is a system which favors one another.
It’s a co-optation between white men of a certain age,”
he concludes, and this
“betweenness is sclerotic
. ”