Midnight has already struck when Justine Triet takes the stage at the Olympia to receive the César for best film awarded to “Anatomy of a Fall”. “I dedicate this trophy to the actresses and directors in this room. And to all women. Those that exist too much or not enough. Those who succeed and those who fail, those who have been hurt and who free themselves by speaking. And those who don’t make it.”
More than ever, this year’s Césars highlighted the place of women in the French film industry. Firstly through the unprecedented nominations: for example in the “best actress” category, all the films were directed by women. By her track record too: for only the second time in 49 years, the trophy for best director was awarded to a woman (Justine Triet, again…
Midnight has already struck when Justine Triet takes the stage at the Olympia to receive the César for best film awarded to “Anatomy of a Fall”. “I dedicate this trophy to the actresses and directors in this room. And to all women. Those that exist too much or not enough. Those who succeed and those who fail, those who have been hurt and who free themselves by speaking. And those who don’t make it.”
More than ever, this year’s Césars highlighted the place of women in the French film industry. Firstly through the unprecedented nominations: for example in the “best actress” category, all the films were directed by women. By her track record too: for only the second time in 49 years, the trophy for best director was awarded to a woman (Justine Triet, again). And that’s not all: Mona Chokri for the foreign film, Chiara Malta for the animated one, Kaouther Ben Hania for the documentary, Valérie Donzelli and Audrey Diwan for the screenplay, Mathilde Bé douet for the animated short film, Gala Hernández López for the documentary short film or Alice Douard for the fiction one… More than half of the awards (16 out of 26) went to rewarded for professionals of the 7th art.
Justine Triet, second woman in César history to receive the award for best director, 24 years after Tonie Marshall.
STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP
“the dawn of a new dayâ€
After the accusations of rape against Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon (both of whom deny them), the Césars decided to give the floor to Judith Godrèche. Welcomed on stage by Ariane Ascaride, the actress, leading figure of the #MeToo movement four years after the spectacular exit of Adèle Haenel, seems moved when around 9:30 p.m., she speaks ©feels “in front of a crowd, eye to eye”. To ask this question: “Why accept that this art that we love so much, this art that binds us, is used as a cover for illicit trafficking in young girls?”
Judith Godrèche, applauded while standing, was welcomed on stage by Ariane Ascaride.
STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP
Calling to break the silence, the actress admits that she did not intend to have to play the role of “a ghost from the Americas who comes to kick in an armored door e. [â¦] We are at the dawn of a new day. We can decide that men accused of rape can no longer make rain or shine in the cinema,” she says. “You have to be wary of little girls: they touch the bottom of the pool, they bump into each other, they get hurt but they bounce back. The little girls are punks who come back disguised as hamsters and to dream of a possible revolution.”
Disappointment for “The Animal Kingdom”
Recently awarded at the BAFTAs in England, the Goyas in Spain, the Golden Globes in the United States and in numerous other competitions, “Anatomy of a Fall” can leave the heart there. ©ger in Hollywood, where he will present in a fortnight’s time at the Oscars in five categories. Less than a year after its Palme d’Or at Cannes, Justine Triet’s film triumphed on Friday evening. Six trophies, including the most prestigious (best film, direction, screenplay, editing, actress…). A coronation which deprives important films like “I will never forget your faces” by Jeanne Herry from wide recognition, and which also defies the predictions: given the big favorite with 12 nominations, “ “The Animal Kingdom” by Girondin Thomas Cailley won five trophies but none in the major categories.
Too bad for this humanist fable, whose popular success (1.11 million admissions to date) cannot be denied. Too bad also for the eternally empty-handed Pio Marmaï, in the running with the excellent “Yannick” by Quentin Dupieux in which he plays opposite Raphaël Quenard.
Raphaël Quenard was in the running in three categories, including best documentary short and best actor for “Yannick”. He received the César for male breakthrough for “Scrapyard Dog†by Jean-Baptiste Durand, also the César for best first film.
STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP
Logically, the latter was crowned Male Revelation for the formidable “Scrapyard Dog” by Jean-Baptiste Durand (also César for best first film). Before paying tribute, in his speech, “to the farmers who work hard to offer us the luxury of filling our stomachs with good fruits, good vegetables, good cereals.” », Quenard, 32 years old and with an impossible chatter, recalled that “our lives are punctuated by suffering and sorrow. But the most terrible of them is to see ourselves, every day, trying to stifle the little child within us. So thank you to the filmmakers who give us free rein to gesticulate in their world. Hail Caesar!”
The complete prize list
Film: “Anatomy of a Fall” by Justine Triet.
Production: Justine Triet (“Anatomy of a Fall”).
Actor: Arieh Worthalter (“The Goldman Trial”)
Actress: Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”).
Actor in a supporting role: Swann Arlaud (“Anatomy of a Fall”).
Actress in a supporting role: Adèle Exarchopoulos (for “I will always see your faces”).
Female revelation: Ella Rumpf (“Marguerite’s Theorem”).
Male revelation: Raphaël Quenard (“Scrapyard Dog”).
First film: “Dog from the junkyard” by Jean-Baptiste Durand.
Foreign film: “Simple as Sylvain” directed by Monia Chokri.
Animated film: “Linda wants chicken” by Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach.
Documentary: “Les Filles d’Olfa” by Kaouther Ben Hania.
Original scenario: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari (“Anatomy of a Fall”).
Adaptation: Valérie Donzelli and Audrey Diwan (“Love and the Forests”, after Eric Reinhardt).
Original music: Andrea Laszlo De Simone (“The Animal Kingdom”).
Son: Fabrice Osinski, Raphaël Sohier, Matthieu Fichet and Niels Barletta (“The Animal Kingdom”).
Photography: David Cailley (“The Animal Kingdom”).
Assembly: Laurent Sénéchal (for “Anatomy of a Fall”).
Costumes: Ariane Daurat (for “The Animal Kingdom”).
Decors: Stéphane Taillasson (for “The Three Musketeers”).
Visual effects: Cyrille Bonjean, Bruno Sommier and Jean-Louis Autret (for “The Animal Kingdom”).
Animated short film: “Summer 96” by Mathilde Bédouet.
Documentary short film: “Fluid Mechanics” by Gala Hernández López.
Short fiction film: “The Wait” by Alice Douard.
Honorary Caesar: Agnes Jaoui and Christopher Nolan.