César Awards 2008: Abdellatif Kechiche’s The Secret of the Grain named Best Film; Marion Cotillard wins Best Actress
Abdellatif Kechiche’s French-Tunisian drama The Secret of the Grain was named Best Film at the 2008 César Awards, beating three internationally acclaimed titles: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Persepolis, and La Vie en Rose.
The 33rd César Awards was held on Feb. 22 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The ceremony was chaired by Jean Rochefort and hosted by Antoine de Caunes.
César Awards 2008: Winners & nominations
Best Film
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly / Le Scaphandre et le papillon – Dir.: Julian Schnabel; Prod.: Jérôme Seydoux
Persepolis – Dir.: Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud; Prod.: Marc-Antoine Robert & Xavier Rigault
A Secret / Un Secret – Dir.: Claude Miller; Prod.: Yves Marmion
* The Secret of the Grain / La Graine et le mulet – Dir.: Abdellatif Kechiche; Prod.: Claude Berri
La Vie en Rose / La Môme – Dir.: Olivier Dahan; Prod.: Alain GoldmanBEST FIRST FILM
All Is Forgiven / Tout est pardonné – Dir.: Mia Hansen-Love; Prod.: David Thion & Philippe Martin
Just About Love? / Et toi t’es sur qui? – Dir.: Lola Doillon; Prod.: Saga Blanchard
* Persepolis – Dir.: Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud; Prod.: Marc-Antoine Robert & Xavier Rigault
Those Who Remain / Ceux qui restent – Dir.: Anne le Ny; Prod.: Jean-Philippe Andraca & Christian Bérard
Water Lilies / Naissance des pieuvres – Dir.: Céline Sciamma; Prod.: Bénédicte Couvreur & Jérôme DopfferBEST FOREIGN FILM
Eastern Promises – Dir.: David Cronenberg
The Edge of Heaven / Auf der anderen Seite – Dir.: Fatih Akin
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days / 4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile – Dir.: Christian Mungiu
* The Lives of Others / Das Leben der Anderen – Dir.: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
We Own the Night – Dir.: James GrayBest Director
Olivier Dahan – La Vie en Rose
* Abdellatif Kechiche – The Secret of the Grain
Claude Miller – A Secret
Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
André Téchiné – The Witnesses / Les TémoinsBest Actress
Isabelle Carré – Anna M.
* Marion Cotillard – La Vie en Rose
Cécile De France – A Secret
Marina Foïs – Darling
Catherine Frot – Odette ToulemondeBest Actor
* Mathieu Amalric – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Michel Blanc – The Witnesses
Jean-Pierre Darroussin – Conversations with My Gardener / Dialogue avec mon jardinier
Vincent Lindon – Those Who Remain
Jean-Pierre Marielle – Let’s Dance / Faut que ça danse!Best Supporting Actress
* Julie Depardieu – A Secret
Noémie Lvovsky – Actresses / Actrices
Bulle Ogier – Let’s Dance
Ludivine Sagnier – A Secret
Sylvie Testud – La Vie en RoseBest Supporting Actor
* Sami Bouajila – The Witnesses
Pascal Greggory – La Vie en Rose
Michael Lonsdale – Heartbeat Detector / La Question humaine
Fabrice Luchini – Molière
Laurent Stocker – Hunting and Gathering / Ensemble, c’est toutBEST MALE NEWCOMER
Nicolas Cazalé – The Grocer’s Son / Le Fils de l’épicier
Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet – Love Songs / Les Chansons d’amour
Johan Libéreau – The Witnesses
Jocelyn Quivrin – 99 Francs / 99 F
* Laurent Stocker – Hunting and GatheringBEST FEMALE NEWCOMER
Louise Blachère – Water Lilies
Audrey Dana – Crossed Tracks / Roman de gare
Adèle Haenel – Water Lilies
* Hafsia Herzi – The Secret of the Grain
Clotilde Hesme – Love SongsBest Original Screenplay
Molière – Laurent Tirard & Grégoire Vigneron
* The Secret of the Grain – Abdellatif Kechiche
Those Who Remain – Anne le Ny
2 Days in Paris – Julie Delpy
La Vie en Rose – Olivier DahanBest Adapted Screenplay
Darling – Christine Carrière
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Ronald Harwood
Hunting and Gathering – Claude Berri
* Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud
A Secret – Claude Miller & Nathalie CarterBest Cinematography
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Janusz Kaminski
Intimate Enemies / L’Ennemi intime – Giovanni Fiore Coltellacci
The Second Wind / Le Deuxième souffle – Yves Angelo
A Secret – Gérard de Battista
* La Vie en Rose – Tetsuo NagataBest Film Editing
* The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Juliette Welfling
Persepolis – Stéphane Roche
A Secret – Véronique Lange
The Secret of the Grain – Ghalya Lacroix, Camille Toubkis
La Vie en Rose – Richard Marizy, Yves BeloniakBEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Intimate Enemies – Alexandre Desplat
Let’s Dance – Archie Shepp
* Love Songs – Alex Beaupain
Persepolis – Olivier Bernet
A Secret – Zbigniew PreisnerBEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Jacquou the Rebel / Jacquou le croquant – Christian Marti
Molière – Françoise Dupertuis
The Second Wind – Thierry Flamand
A Secret – Jean-Pierre Kohut Svelko
* La Vie en Rose – Olivier RaouxBest Costume Design
Jacquou the Rebel – Jean-Daniel Vuillermoz
Molière – Pierre-Jean Larroque
The Second Wind – Corinne Jorry
A Secret – Jacqueline Bouchard
* La Vie en Rose – Marit AllenBest Sound
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Jean-Paul Mugel, Francis Wargnier & Dominique Gaborieau
Intimate Enemies – Antoine Deflandre, Germain Boulay & Eric Tisserand
Love Songs – Guillaume Le Braz, Valérie Deloof, Agnès Ravez & Thierry Delor
Persepolis – Thierry Lebon, Eric Chevallier & Samy Bardet
* La Vie en Rose – Laurent Zeilig, Pascal Villard & Jean-Paul HurierBest Documentary
Animals in Love / Les Animaux amoureux – Dir.: Laurent Charbonnier
The First Cry / Le Premier cri – Dir.: Gilles de Maistre
LIP: The LIP Factor – Imagination in Power / Les Lip, l’imagination au pouvoir – Dir.: Christian Rouaud
Return to Normandy / Retour en Normandie – Dir.: Nicolas Philibert
* Terror’s Advocate / L’Avocat de la terreur – Dir.: Barbet SchroederBEST SHORT FILM
Deweneti – Dir.: Dyana Gaye
* The Mozart of Pickpockets / Le Mozart des pickpockets – Dir.: Philippe Pollet-Villar
Premier voyage – Dir.: Grégoire Sivan
La Promenade – Dir.: Marina de Van
Rachel – Dir.: Frédéric MermoudHONORARY CÉSAR
Jeanne Moreau
Roberto BenigniCÉSAR HOMAGE
Romy Schneider
“César Awards 2008: ‘Small’ Drama Beats International Hits” notes
The Secret of the Grain image: Pathé Distribution.
*last modified in February 2026.