French cinema’s 33rd annual Cesar Awards were held Friday evening, with prizes going to all five films nominated in the Best Film category.
The Secret of the Grain brought Abdellatif Kechiche equivalent awards to those won by his film Games of Love and Chance in 2005: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Most Promising Actress (this time for Hafsia Herzi).
La Vie en Rose scooped up 4 Cesars in technical categories (Costume Design, Production Design, Cinematography, and Sound) as well as a new (pre-Oscar?) honor for Marion Cotillard for her portrayal of Edith Piaf.
Three years after Kings and Queen, Mathieu Amalric won his second Best Actor award for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which also picked up the Cesar for Best Editing.
Persepolis, a film that celebrates Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud transition from the world of comic books to the wide screen, won the Cesars for Best First Film and Best Screen Adaptation.
Julie Depardieu waltzed off with the Cesar for Best Supporting Actress, thus allowing the film A Secret to make its mark on this year’s awards ceremony.
The Witnesses and Love Songs, each nominated in four categories, also stole the limelight, with Sami Bouajila named Best Supporting Actor (The Witnesses), and the Best Music award going to Alex Beaupain (Love Songs).
Laurent Stocker was voted Most Promising Actor for Hunting and Gathering, and The Mozart of Pickpockets won the Cesar for Best Short Film, one year after landing the Grand Prize at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
