Gay 'Stranger,' Lesbian 'Blue' Both Earn Eight Cesar Nominations

Big day for openly gay Alain Guiraudie, 49, whose explicit queer thriller Stranger by the Lake has earned eight Cesar nominations in France including two for him, best director and best screenplay, as well as the top prize, best picture. Additionally, the film got nods in two acting categories (above), and for cinematography, editing, and sound. Also receiving eight nominations in virtually all the same categories is the Palm d'Or winner Blue Is the Warmest Color, a lesbian drama that may or may not be exploitive fare aimed at straight men. Instead, read the graphic novel on which it is based.

One film earned more: ten noms for the family comedy Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table! translated as Me, Myself, and Mum, which has its own queer bent. Writer-director Guillaume Gallienne stars in the autobiographical film as both the lead characters, himself and his mother, who treats him as the daughter she never had.

Best foreign film nominees are The Broken Circle Breakdown, Blancanieves, Blue Jasmine, Dead Man Talking, Django Unchained, The Great Beauty, and Gravity.

Full list of nominees after the jump. 

BEST PICTURE
9 Mois Ferme
Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!
Stranger By The Lake
Jimmy P
The Past
Venus In Fur
Blue Is The Warmest Color

BEST DIRECTOR
Albert Dupontel, 9 Mois Ferme
Guillaume Gallienne, Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!
Alain Guiraudie, Stranger By The Lake
Arnaud Desplechin, Jimmy P
Asghar Farhadi, The Past
Roman Polanski Venus In Fur
Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue Is The Warmest Color

BEST ACTRESS
Fanny Ardant, Les Beaux Jours
Bérénice Bejo, The Past
Catherine Deneuve, Elle S’En Va
Sara Forestier, Suzanne
Sandrine Kiberlain, 9 Mois Ferme
Emmanuelle Seigner, Venus In Fur
Léa Seydoux, Blue Is The Warmest Color

BEST ACTOR
Mathieu Amalric, Venus In Fur
Michel Bouquet, Renoir
Albert Dupontel, 9 Mois Ferme
Grégory Gadebois, Mon Ame Par Toi Guérie
Guillaume Gallienne, Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!
Fabrice Luchini, Alceste A Bicyclette
Mads Mikkelsen, Michael Kohlhaas

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Marisa Borini, Un Château En Italie
Françoise Fabian, Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!
Julie Gayet, Quai D’Orsay
Adèle Haenel, Suzanne
Géraldine Pailhas, Jeune Et Jolie

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Niels Arestrup, Quai D’Orsay
Patrick Chesnais, Les Beaux Jours
Patrick D’Assumçao, Stranger By The Lake
François Damiens, Suzanne
Olivier Gourmet, Grand Central

NEWCOMER (Female)
Lou De Laâge, Jappeloup
Pauline Etienne, La Réliguieuse
Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue Is The Warmest Color
Golshifteh Farahani, Syngué Sabour – Pierre De Patience
Marine Vacth, Jeune Et Jolie

NEWCOMER (Male)
Paul Bartel, Les Petits Princes
Pierre Deladonchamps, Stranger By The Lake
Paul Hamy, Suzanne
Vincent Macaigne, La Fille du 14 Juillet
Nemo Schiffman, Elle S’En Va

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Albert Dupontel, 9 Mois Ferme
Philippe Le Guay, Alceste A Bicyclette
Alain Guiraudie, Strtanger By The Lake
Asghar Farhadi, The Past
Katell Quillévéré & Mariette Désert, Suzanne

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Guilaume Gallienne, Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!
Arnaud Desplechin, Julie Peyr & Kent Jones, Jimmy P
Antonin Baudry, Christophe Blain & Bertrand Tavernier, Quai D’Orsay
David Ives & Roman Polanski, Venus In Fur
Abdellatif Kechiche & Ghalya Lacrois, Blue Is The Warmest Color

BEST COSTUMES
Florence Fontaine, L’Ecume Des Jours
Madeline Fontaine, The Young And Prodigious Mr Spivet
Olivier Bériot, Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!
Anina Diener, Michael Kohlhaas
Pascaline Chavanne, Renoir

BEST ART DIRECTION
Stéphane Rozenbaum, L’Ecume Des Jours
Aline Bonetto, The Young And Prodigious Mr Spivet
Sylvie Olivé, Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!
Yan Arlaud, Michael Kohlhaas
Benoît Barouh, Renoir

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Lettres Des Femmes, Augusto Zanovello
Mademoiselle Kiki Et Les Montparnos, Amélie Harrault

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Aya De Yopougon, Marguerite Abouet & Clément Oubrerie
Loulou L’Incroyable Secret, Eric Omond
Ma Maman Est En Amérique, Elle A Rencontré Buffalo Bill, Marc Boréal & Thibaut Chatel

BEST DEBUT FEATURE
La Bataille De Solférino, Justine Triet
La Cage Dorée, Ruben Alves
En Solitaire, Christophe Offenstein
La Fille Du 14 Juillet, Antonin Peretjatko
Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!, Guillaume Gallienne

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Comment J’ai Détesté Les Maths, Olivier Peyon
Le Dernier Des Injustes, Claude Lanzmann
Il Etait Une Fôret, Luc Jacquet
La Maison De La Radio, Nicolas Philibert
Sur Le Chemin De L’Ecole, Pascal Plisson

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Jorge Arriagada, Alceste A Bicyclette
Loïk Dury & Christophe ‘Disco’ Minck, Casse Tête Chinois
Etienne Charry, L’Ecume Des Jours
Martin Wheeler, Michael Kohlhaas
Alexandre Desplat, Venus In Fur

BEST SHORT FILM
Avant Que De Tout Perdre, Xavier Legrand
Bambi, Sébastien Lifshitz
La Fugue, Jean-Bernard Marlin
Les Lézards, Vincent Mariette
Marseille La Nuit, Marie Monge

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Thomas Hardmeier, The Young And Prodigious Mr Spivet
Claire Mathon, Stranger By The Lake
Jeanne Lapoire, Michael Kohlhaas
Mark Ping Bing Lee, Renoir
Sofian El Fani, Blue Is The Warmest Color

BEST EDITING
Christophe Pinel, 9 Mois Ferme
Valérie Deseine, Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!
Jean-Christophe Hym, Stranger By The Lake
Juliette Welfling, The Past
Camille Toubkis, Albertine Lastera & Jean-Marie Lengellé, Blue Is The Warmest Color

BEST SOUND
Marc-Antoine Beldent, Loïc Prian & Olivier Dô Hùu, Les Garçons Et Guillaume, A Table!
Philippe Grivel & Nathalie Vidal, Stranger By The Lake
Jean-Pierre Duret, Jean Mallet & Mélissa Petitjean, Michael Kohlhaas
Lucien Balibar, Nadine Muse & Cyril Holtz, Venus In Fur
Jérôme Chenevoy, Fabien Pochet & Jean-Paul Hurier, Blue Is The Warmest Color

BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Broken Circle Breakdown
Blancanieves
Blue Jasmine
Dead Man Talking
Django Unchained
The Great Beauty
Gravity