Le Règne animal (The Animal Kingdom), about a wave of mutations turning humans into hybrid creatures, picked up 12 César nominations, including for best film.

Justine Triet’s Anatomie d’une chute (Anatomy of a Fall), – one of France’s biggest international arthouse hits of recent years – took one less.

The thriller about a wife accused of murdering her husband won two Golden Globes this month and has clocked up five Oscar nominations including for best picture.

It was a decent year for women filmmakers, who made up three of the five Cesar nominees in the best director category.

The prize has only once gone to a woman: Tonie Marshall for 2000’s Venus Beauty Institute.

Triet is nominated alongside veteran provocateur Catherine Breillat for L’Eté dernier (Last Summer) and Jeanne Herry for Je verrai toujours vos visages (All Your Faces).

The awards ceremony will take place on February 23rd, with Christopher Nolan, who is leading the Oscars race with Oppenheimer, to receive an honorary César.

Also nominated for best film is Chien de la casse (Junkyard Dog) about a friendship upended when one person falls in love, and Le Procès Goldman (The Goldman Case), a courtroom drama about a true-life armed robber who became a media celebrity in the 1970s.

Find the full list of nominations here.