5th César Awards


The 5th César Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, honoured the best French films of 1979 and took place on 2 February 1980 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. The ceremony was chaired by Jean Marais and hosted by Pierre Tchernia and Peter Ustinov. Tess won the award for Best Film.

Winners and nominees

The winners are highlighted in bold:
Manhattan, directed by Woody Allen
Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Die Blechtrommel, directed by Volker Schlöndorff
Hair, directed by Miloš Forman
Dominique Lavanant, for Courage - Let's Run
Maria Schneider, for La Dérobade
Myriam Boyer, for Série noire
Ghislain Cloquet, for Tess
Jean Penzer, for Buffet froid
Néstor Almendros, for Perceval le Gallois
Bruno Nuytten, for Les Soeurs Brontë
Pierre Lenoir, for Retour à la bien-aimée
Claudine Merlin, for Buffet froid
Henri Lanoë, for Le Cavaleur
Claudine Merlin, for Les Soeurs Brontë
Thierry Derocles, for Série noire
Ennio Morricone, for I... comme Icare
Philippe Sarde, for Tess
Alexandre Trauner, for Don Giovanni
Théobald Meurisse, for Buffet froid
Jacques Saulnier, for I... comme Icare
Pierre Guffroy, for Tess
Sibylle, directed by Robert Cappa
Le Sculpteur parfait, directed by Rafi Toumayan