PARIS: Home-made hit “The Count of Monte Cristo” topped the nominations released Wednesday for the Cesars, France’s version of the Oscars, followed closely by international awards season front-runner “Emilia Perez.”
“The Count of Monte Cristo,” a big-budget French adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’s epic novel, was the second most watched film in French cinemas last year and leads the Cesars nominations with 14.
Lead actor Pierre Niney is the front-runner in the best actor category, but faces competition from Francois Civil who starred in the surprise French comedy hit of the year, “Un P’tit Truc en Plus” (“A Little Something Extra“).
The film about a father and son who go to work in a holiday camp for people with disabilities topped the French 2024 box office and picked up 13 nominations.
“Emilia Perez,” directed by Frenchman Jacques Audiard and the most-nominated film for the Oscars, was picked in 12 categories for the Cesars, including best film and best director.
The surreal musical odyssey about a narco boss who transitions to life as a woman shattered the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language film last week, with 13 Oscar nominations.
It was also the second-most nominated film for Britain’s BAFTA awards, according to the shortlist unveiled on January 15, behind Vatican thriller “Conclave.”


The Cesars will be handed out in Paris on February 28 at a ceremony hosted by Jean-Pascal Zadi, who starred in a hit 2021 satire about racial politics called “Tout Simplement Noir” (“Simply Black“).
This edition will mark the 50th year of the Cesars, which like the Oscars are frequently embroiled in the political issues of the day.
“L’Histoire de Souleymane” (“Souleymane’s Story“), an arthouse production that recounts the struggles of an undocumented food delivery cyclist in Paris, emerged as a strong awards contender with four nominations including best film and best director.
It comes at a time of rising support for far-right political parties in France and follows a recent tightening of immigration rules by hard-line Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to make it more difficult for foreigners to gain work documents.
The star of the film, Abou Sangare, was an undocumented migrant from Guinea with no previous acting experience when he was chosen at a casting call by director Boris Lojkine.
The 23-year-old was nominated for a Cesar in the breakthrough male actor category, while co-star Nina Meurisse was nominated as best actress.
Sangare, who was the subject of a deportation order, only recently obtained a work permit to stay in France legally as a mechanic.
He told the Liberation newspaper this month that he intended to take up a job in a garage, rather than pursue a career in film.
“There might be offers but I’m a mechanic, that’s my trade,” he said.
The winners of the Cesars are picked by the 4,951 members of the Cesars academy.

WASHINGTON: America’s children have continued to lose ground on reading skills in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and have made little improvement in math, according to the latest results of an exam known as the nation’s report card.
The findings are yet another setback for US schools and reflect the myriad challenges that have upended education, from pandemic school closures to a youth mental health crisis and high rates of chronic absenteeism. The national exam results also show growing inequality: While the highest-performing students have started to regain lost ground, lower-performing students are falling further behind.
Given every two years to a sample of America’s children, the National Assessment of Educational Progress is considered one of the best gauges of the academic progress of the US school system. The most recent exam was administered in early 2024 in every state, testing fourth- and eighth-grade students on math and reading.
“The news is not good,” said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which oversees the assessment. “We are not seeing the progress we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic.”
Among the few bright spots was an improvement in fourth grade math, where the average score ticked up 2 points on a scale of 500. It’s still 3 points lower than the 2019 pre-pandemic average, yet some states and districts made significant strides, including in Washington, D.C., where the average score increased 10 points.
For the most part, however, American schools have not yet begun to make progress.
The average math score for eighth grade students was unchanged from 2022, while reading scores fell 2 points at both grade levels. One-third of eighth grade students scored below “basic” in reading, more than ever in the history of the assessment.
Students are considered below basic if they are missing fundamental skills. For example, eighth grade students who scored below basic in reading were typically unable to make a simple inference about a character’s motivation after reading a short story, and some were unable to identify that the word “industrious” means “to be hard working.”
Especially alarming to officials was the divide between higher- and lower-performing students, which has grown wider than ever. Students with the highest scores outperformed their peers from two years ago, making up some ground lost during the pandemic. But the lowest performers are scoring even lower, falling further behind.
It was most pronounced in eighth grade math: While the top 10 percent of students saw their scores increased by 3 points, the lowest 10 percent decreased by 6 points.
“We are deeply concerned about our low-performing students,” said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policies for the exam. “For a decade, these students have been on the decline. They need our urgent attention and our best effort.”
The latest setbacks follow a historic backslide in 2022. In that year’s exam, student achievement fell across both subjects and grade levels, in some cases by unprecedented levels.
But Carr said poor results can no longer be blamed solely on the pandemic, warning that the nation’s education system faces “complex challenges.”
A survey done alongside the exam found in 2022 that fewer young students were reading for enjoyment, which is linked to lower reading scores. And new survey results found that students who are often absent from class — a persistent problem nationwide — are struggling the most.
“The data are clear,” Carr said. “Students who don’t come to school are not improving.”
The results provide fresh fuel for a national debate over the impact of pandemic school closures, though they’re unlikely to add clarity. Some studies have found that longer closures led to bigger academic setbacks. Those slower to reopen were often in urban and Democratic-led areas, while more rural and Republican-led areas were quicker.
The new results don’t show a “direct link” on the topic, Carr said, though she said students clearly do better when they’re in school.
Among the states that saw reading scores fall in 2024 are Florida and Arizona, which were among the first to return to the classroom during the pandemic. Meanwhile, some big school systems that had longer closures made strides in fourth grade math, including Los Angeles and New York City.
The success of big urban districts — 14 of which saw notable improvement in fourth-grade math when the nation as a whole saw only minor gains — can be credited to academic recovery efforts funded by federal pandemic relief, said Ray Hart, executive director of the Council of Great City Schools. Investing in efforts like intensive tutoring programs and curriculum updates is “really proving to make a difference,” he said.
Republicans in Congress were quick to cast blame on Democrats and former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the decline is “clearly a reflection of the education bureaucracy continuing to focus on woke policies rather than helping students learn and grow.”
“I’m thankful we have an administration that is looking to reverse course,” he said in a reference to President Donald Trump.
Compared with 2019 results, eighth grade reading scores are now down 8 points. Reading scores are down 5 points in both grades. And in fourth grade math, scores are down 3 points.
Yet officials say there’s reason to be optimistic. Carr highlighted improvement in Louisiana, where fourth grade reading is now back above pre-pandemic levels, and in Alabama, which accomplished that feat in fourth grade math.
Carr was especially laudatory of Louisiana, where a campaign to improve reading proficiency resulted in both higher- and lower-performing students exceeding 2019 scores.
“I would not say that hope is lost, and I would not say that we cannot turn this around,” Carr said. “It’s been demonstrated that we can.”