The 42nd César Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, was held on 24 February 2017, at the Salle Pleyel in Paris to honour the best French films of 2016.

Jérôme Commandeur hosted the César Awards ceremony for the first time.

The nominations were announced on 25 January 2017 by Academy president Alain Terzian and awards ceremony host Jérôme Commandeur.

[3] Elle – produced by Saïd Ben Saïd and Michel Merkt, directed by Paul Verhoeven Xavier Dolan – It's Only the End of the World Gaspard Ulliel – It's Only the End of the World Isabelle Huppert – Elle James Thierrée – Chocolat Déborah Lukumuena – Divines Niels Schneider – Dark Inclusion Oulaya Amamra – Divines The Aquatic Effect – Sólveig Anspach and Jean-Luc Gaget My Life as a Courgette – Céline Sciamma Divines – Houda Benyamina Pascal Marti – Frantz Xavier Dolan – It's Only the End of the World Marc Engels, Fred Demolder, Sylvain Réty and Jean-Paul Hurier – The Odyssey Ibrahim Maalouf – In the Forests of Siberia Anaïs Romand – The Dancer Jérémie D. Lignol – Chocolat Merci patron!

– François Ruffin My Life as a Courgette – Claude Barras Celui qui a deux âmes – Fabrice Luang-Vija Maman(s) – Maïmouna Doucouré Vers la tendresse – Alice Diop I, Daniel Blake – Ken Loach George Clooney The following films received multiple nominations: The following films received multiple awards: The show was followed by 1.9 million viewers.