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The most illustrious honor for the finest merits in the world of cinema is the Academy Awards. For almost a century now, this annual commemoration of excellence in cinema has been like a dream to many artists and filmmakers around the world.

Millions tune in to the ceremony every year as a culmination of dreams, with some of the best performers of the year gripping the golden statuette. Officially known as the Academy Award of Merit, the golden statuette is much better known by its nickname- Oscar.

Oscar statuettes | via Oscar.org

The nickname became widely publicized, so much so that people have reduced the use of the term ‘Academy Award’ now. The story of how this prestigious award gained the name ‘Oscar’ is, in many ways, as intriguing as the history of cinema itself.

The birth of the Academy Awards James Stewart receiving an Oscar in 1941 | via Universal Pictures...

Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall won Best Film and Best Director at the 49th edition of the French César awards Friday.

Triet is only the second women to clinch the Best Director prize in the near 50-year history of the César Awards, after Tonie Marshall for Venus Beauty in 1976.

The director took to the stage with her producers Marie-Ange Luciani at Les Films de Pierre and David Thion at Les Films Pelléas.

Luciani suggested the Best Film honor, which is voted on by the some 4,600 members of the César Academy, was a sign of solidarity for the film and Triet in the light of her controversial Cannes d’Or acceptance speech which provoked a political backlash after she criticized the attitude of Emmanuel Macron’s government towards culture and cinema.

“After Justine’s speech in Cannes and the lively debate she provoked we’d like to say this...

Thomas Cailley’s fantasy drama The Animal Kingdom topped the nominations for France’s César Awards, which were announced in Paris on Wednesday.

The drama picked up 12 nominations with Justine Triet’s Oscar hopeful Anatomy Of A Fall coming in second with 11 nominations, followed by Jeanne Herry’s All Your Faces, which nine, and The Goldman Case, with eight.

Set in a world where human beings start transmuting into animals, The Animal Kingdom world premiered as the opening film of Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2023 and went on to make $8.5M at the box office last fall.

The Animal Kingdom and Anatomy of a Fall are competing in eight categories spanning Best Film, Director, Original Screenplay, Male Revelation, Editing, Sound, Cinematography and Production Design.

The high nomination count for Herry’s ensemble drama All Your Faces was thanks to the fact it dominated the Supporting Actress category with separate nominations for cast members Leila Bekhti,...