Honorary César

The César Award is France's national film award. Recipients are selected by the members of the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. The following are the recipients of the Honorary César award since its inception in 1976.

Honorary César
Country	France
Presented by	Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma
First award	1976
Website	academie-cinema.org

Recipients

 

Ingrid Bergman was the inaugural winner in 1976.

 

Bette Davis won in 1986.

 

Jean-Luc Godard won twice in 1987 and 1998.

 

Sophia Loren won in 1991.

 

Gregory Peck won in 1995.

 

Steven Spielberg won in 1995.

 

Pedro Almodovar won in 1999.

 

Martin Scorsese won in 2000.

 

Spike Lee won in 2003.

 

Meryl Streep won in 2003.

 

Kate Winslet won in 2012.

 

George Clooney won in 2017.

 

Penelope Cruz won in 2019.

 

Cate Blanchett won in 2022.

 

Christopher Nolan won in 2024.

1970s

Year	Recipient	Profession	Nationality	Ref.
1976	Ingrid Bergman	Actress	Sweden
	Diana Ross	Actress / singer	United States
1977	Henri Langlois (posthumous)	Film archivist / co-founder of the Cinémathèque Française	France
	Jacques Tati	Actor, director and screenwriter
1978	Robert Dorfmann	Film producer
	René Goscinny (posthumous)	Writer / director / producer / editor
1979	Marcel Carné	Director / screenwriter
	Charles Vanel	Actor / director / screenwriter
	Walt Disney (posthumous)	Animator / director / producer	United States

1980s

Year	Recipient	Profession	Nationality	Ref.
1980	Pierre Braunberger	Producer / director / screenwriter	France
	Louis de Funès	Actor / screenwriter / director
	Kirk Douglas	Actor / director / producer	United States
1981	Marcel Pagnol (posthumous)	Director / screenwriter	France
	Alain Resnais	Director / editor / screenwriter
1982	Georges Dancigers	Film producer	Russia / France
	Alexandre Mnouchkine	Film producer
	Jean Nény	Sound engineer	France
	Andrzej Wajda	Director / screenwriter	Poland
1983	Raimu (posthumous)	Actor	France
1984	René Clément	Director / screenwriter
	Georges de Beauregard	Film producer
	Edwige Feuillère	Actress / screenwriter
1985	Christian-Jaque	Director / screenwriter
	Danielle Darrieux	Actress
	Christine Gouze-Rénal	Producer / actress
	Alain Poiré	Producer / screenwriter
1986	Maurice Jarre	Composer
	Bette Davis	Actress / producer	United States
	Jean Delannoy	Director, screenwriter and producer	France
	René Ferracci [fr] (posthumous)	Art director / poster designer
	Claude Lanzmann	Director of the documentary feature Shoah
1987	Jean-Luc Godard	Director / screenwriter	France / Switzerland
1988	Serge Silberman	Producer / screenwriter	Russia / France
1989	Bernard Blier	Actor	France
	Paul Grimault	Director / screenwriter / actor

1990s

Year	Recipient	Profession	Nationality	Ref.
1990	Gérard Philipe (posthumous)	Actor	France
1991	Jean-Pierre Aumont	Actor and screenwriter
	Sophia Loren	Actress	Italy
1992	Michèle Morgan	Actress	France
	Sylvester Stallone	Actor / screenwriter / director	United States
1993	Jean Marais	Actor	France
	Marcello Mastroianni	Actor	Italy
	Gérard Oury	Actor / screenwriter / director	France
1994	Jean Carmet	Actor / screenwriter
1995	Jeanne Moreau	Actress / screenwriter / director
	Gregory Peck	Actor	United States
	Steven Spielberg	Director / producer
1996	Lauren Bacall	Actress
	Henri Verneuil	Director / screenwriter / actor	France
1997	Charles Aznavour	Actor / composer / singer / screenwriter	France / Armenia
	Andie MacDowell	Actress	United States
1998	Michael Douglas	Actor / producer
	Clint Eastwood	Actor / director / producer
	Jean-Luc Godard	Director / screenwriter	France / Switzerland
1999	Pedro Almodóvar	Director / screenwriter / producer	Spain
	Johnny Depp	Actor / producer	United States
	Jean Rochefort	Actor	France

2000s

Year	Recipient	Profession	Nationality	Ref.
2000	Josiane Balasko	Actress / screenwriter / director	France
	Georges Cravenne	Journalist / film producer / founder of the César Awards
	Jean-Pierre Léaud	Actor
	Martin Scorsese	Filmmaker	United States
2001	Darry Cowl	Actor / composer / screenwriter / director	France
	Charlotte Rampling	Actress	United Kingdom
	Agnès Varda	Director / screenwriter	France
2002	Anouk Aimée	Actress
	Jeremy Irons	Actor	United Kingdom
	Claude Rich	Actor / screenwriter	France
2003	Bernadette Lafont	Actress / director
	Spike Lee	Filmmaker	United States
	Meryl Streep	Actress
2004	Micheline Presle	Actress	France
2005	Jacques Dutronc	Actor / singer / composer
	Will Smith	Actor	United States
2006	Hugh Grant	Actor	United Kingdom
	Pierre Richard	Actor	France
2007	Marlène Jobert	Actress
	Jude Law	Actor	United Kingdom
2008	Jeanne Moreau	Actress	France
	Roberto Benigni	Actor and director	Italy
	Romy Schneider (posthumous)	Actress	Germany
2009	Dustin Hoffman	Actor	United States

2010s

Year	Recipient	Profession	Nationality	Ref.
2010	Harrison Ford	Actor	United States
2011	Quentin Tarantino	Director / screenwriter
2012	Kate Winslet	Actress	United Kingdom
2013	Kevin Costner	Actor, director and producer	United States
2014	Scarlett Johansson	Actress
2015	Sean Penn	Actor / Filmmaker
2016	Michael Douglas	Actor / producer
2017	George Clooney	Actor / Filmmaker
2018	Penélope Cruz	Actress	Spain
2019	Robert Redford	Actor / director	United States

2020s

Year	Recipient	Profession	Nationality	Ref.
2022	Cate Blanchett	Actress / producer	Australia
2023	David Fincher	Director / producer	United States
2024	Agnès Jaoui	Actress / screenwriter / film director	France
	Christopher Nolan	Director / screenwriter / producer	United Kingdom
2025	Julia Roberts	Actress	United States
	Costa Gavras	Film director / screenwriter / producer	Greece / France
2026	Jim Carrey	Actor / comedian	Canada / United States