“The Night of 12” triumphs at the 48th Cesar ceremony

Twenty-two years later Harry a friend who wishes you wellDominik Moll did it again this Friday with a new César for best director for The Night of 12. “ We are lucky in France to have an audience that has an appetite for films that go off the beaten track, it’s a curiosity that we must maintain “, he encouraged. His feature film, awarded the prize for best film, also saw its two main actors, Bastien Bouillon and Bouli Lanners, respectively win the César for best male hope and that of best male supporting role for their role as police investigators.

Presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the section “ Cannes Premiere », The night of 12 retraces an investigation by the judicial police, after the murder of a young girl, without witnesses and in the middle of the night. He delivers a gallery of suspects steeped in toxic masculinity and also attacks machismo in the police. Released in theaters in July, it was one of the French successes of the year, with 509,000 spectators in total. Inspired by a news item recounted by Pauline Guéna in her investigation of the Versailles PJ 18.3, a year at the PJhe had already received the Jacques Deray Prize for detective films, awarded by the Institut Lumière in Lyon.

First César for Virginie Efira

The Franco-Belgian Virginie Efira won the César for best actress, for her role in See Paris again facing in particular Juliette Binoche or Fanny Ardant. A trophy, for which she had already been nominated four times, and which comes after two intense years, where she captured all the light. In this film, she plays the role of a survivor of an attack. “ This film [est] righteous, beautiful, comforting, cathartic, thank you for honoring the victims “said the Franco-Belgian actress, dedicating the prize to the director of the film Alice Winocour and to all” the other directors who accompanied her.

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The César for best actor was won by Benoît Magimel, who has definitively regained his place at the top of French cinema by obtaining a second César in a row, a first. At 48, he received this award for Pacifiction – Torment on the Islesa year after having already lifted the statuette to In his lifetime, after a dense course – almost 70 films to his credit – and sometimes chaotic. In pacificationby Spanish director Albert Serra, he delivers a performance as a freewheeling actor, embodying a high commissioner of the Republic in Tahiti, who navigates with haughtiness and elegance from high society to underworld circles, from separatists to the military.

Tribute to female directors by Alice Diop

Filmmaker Alice Diop44, won the César for best first film, for Saint-Omer which relates the trial of an infanticidal mother and inspired by a recent court case. Alice Diop is a recognized documentary filmmaker, but before Saint-Omer, she had not yet made a fiction, which allowed her to compete in this category. This cerebral and radical trial film aims to explore “ the great universal question ” of our “ relation to motherhood according to its director. Saint-Omer has received praise from critics since its presentation at the Venice Film Festival, where it won both the Grand Jury Prize and the First Film Award. He then won the Louis Delluc Prizetied with “ pacification by Albert Serra.

“ I am very, very proud to belong to a new generation of French filmmakers said Alice Diop, also praising the work of Claire Denis, Rebecca Zlotowski and Alice Winocour. “ We won’t be passing through, nor a fad ! We are called upon to renew ourselves every year, to grow… Thank you girls “, she added.

The day before, Alice Diop had received a Cléopâtre prize, created in response by the magazine chat to a very masculine 2023 Césars selection. This 100% feminine award was organized for “ spotlight female directors unfairly snubbed this year to the Caesars. The idea was launched by EELV deputy Marie-Charlotte Garin when she noticed that no woman was named in the Best Achievement category of the Césars.

This simple joke resulted in the creation of a Cleopatras ceremony with two awards: the audience award after online voting by around 1,000 readers and the magazine editor’s award. Alice Diop received the audience award for her film Saint Omer, and Rebecca Zlotowski, Editor’s Choice Award, for Other people’s children. Another alternative prize has been awarded in recent days: the 6th Alice Guy prize (named after the first filmmaker in history), awarded to the best director, who has chosen to honor Alice Winocour and her feature film See Paris again.

Note that the César ceremony was briefly interrupted by the appearance of a climate activist, supporting the Last Renovation collective and wearing a “ We have 761 days left » (we have 761 days leftin English).