‘My Sunny Maad,’ ‘Granny’s Sexual Life’ Score French Academy César Awards

France’s 48th César Awards were held on Friday evening, where  Michaela Pavlátová’s My Sunny Maad added another major award to its mantle after winning best animated feature.

My Sunny Maad is Oscar-nominated filmmaker Pavlátová’s feature debut. It won numerous prizes at international festivals including the jury award at Annecy 2021, best international feature at Bucheon 2021, and best feature at Animafest Zagreb 2022.

Sadly, the film never got a U.S. theatrical run but Totem Films handles global sales and Diaphana Distribution did release the film in France. It was produced by Negativ Film, Sacrebleu Productions, and Bfilm.

After winning best European short film at the European Film Awards, Urška Djukič and Émilie Pigeard’s Granny’s Sexual Life kept to its winning ways by scooping the César for best animated short.

Granny’s Sexual Life is based on the anonymous testimonials gathered in Milena Miklavcic’s book Don’t Play With Fire, Ass, and Snakes. In the film, four elderly women reflect on their memories of the old days when they were young. The film was previously screened in competition at Annecy, Clermont-Ferrand, and Tallinn Black Nights, among other high-profile international festivals. At the Warsaw Animation Film Festival, it won a special mention for “showing the violent side of the world through a relevant animation technique,” according to the jury.

And this year’s award for visual effects went to vfx supervsior Laurens Ehrmann for his work on Notre Dame on Fire. Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, Notre Dame on Fire is a disaster film based on the fire that captured the world’s attention on April 15, 2019. It was produced by France’s Pathé Films and TF1 Films Production along with Italy’s Wildside.

2023 Animation and VFX César Award Winners

Animated Feature

My Sunny Maad (Michaela Pavlátová)

Animated Short

Granny’s Sexual Life (Urška Djukič, Émilie Pigeard)

Visual Effects

Laurens Ehrmann, Notre Dame on Fire