PARIS, Jan 27 — French acting legends Gerard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve and Isabelle Huppert were nominated today for Cesar Awards, the French version of the Oscars, while Hollywood star Michael Douglas will pick up a lifetime achievement prize. 

Topping the nominations list was My Golden Days (Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse), the story of an anthropologist in Tajikistan, which is up for 11 awards at the Cesars on February 26, including best film and director.

It faces competition from Dheepan, the story of Sri Lankan refugees in France that won the top Palme D’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

Also in the running for best film and director is opera singer biopic “Marguerite”, the French entry for best foreign language picture at the Academy Awards, which take place in Los Angeles two days after the Cesars.

Depardieu and Huppert have both been nominated for their roles as a grief-stricken couple reuniting for a trip through California’s Death Valley in Valley of Love. 

They are the most-nominated actors in the history of the Cesars, with 32 nods between them. Depardieu has won twice and Huppert once.

Deneuve, 72, one of the longest-reigning queens of French cinema, picked up her 14th nomination for her supporting role as a judge in gritty urban drama Standing Tall (La tete haute).

Also nominated for best film, the top award at the Cesars, are Fatima, Mustang, The Measure of a Man and Mon Roi. — AFP