Despite fierce competition at this year's prestigious Cesar Awards ceremony, the odds-on favorite A Prophet by Jacques Audiard scooped nine awards, including Best Film.
In the wake of his Grand Prize win at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Jacques Audiard has now picked up his second Cesar award for best Director (after The Beat That My Heart Skipped) and his third Cesar for Best Screenplay. His lead actor Tahar Rahim also went home with two Cesars, for Best Actor and Most Promising Actor. Niels Arestrup was honored for the second time as Best Supporting Actor.
Isabelle Adjani won her 5th Cesar for her role in Skirt Day.
The Cesar for Best Supporting Actress went to Emmanuelle Devos for In the Beginning, while Mélanie Thierry was voted Most Promising Actress for her performance in One for the Road. Both Cesar awards for technical achievement went to The Concert.
The French Kissers and Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno were respectively crowned Best First Film and Best Documentary.
The award for Best Short Film was presented to It's Free for Girls by Claire Burger and Marie Amachoukeli.
