(Paris) La Nuit du 12, which recounts the impossible investigation into a murder of a woman in France, triumphed at the 48th César in Paris during a ceremony where several voices lamented the absence of women among the best director nominees.
Posted at 10:05 p.m
Francois BECKER Agence France-Presse
The feature film won six awards, including a rare double, at this flagship awards of French cinema: César for best film and best director for Dominik Moll.
Actors Bastien Bouillon and Bouli Lanners received the Best Male Hope and Best Actor in a Supporting Role award for their portrayal of a duo of PJ investigators trying to solve the murder of a young girl without witnesses.
Inspired by a news story that surfaced in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in the Savoie department of France, La Nuit du 12 provides a gallery of suspects who don’t even realize the misogyny in their remarks, while also attacking the machismo in the police force.
On the male side, Benoît Magimel won the César for Best Actor for the second consecutive year with Pacifiction-Torment on the Islands. never seen
French-Belgian actress Virginie Efira was awarded the César for Best Actress by Alice Winocour for Revoir Paris.
A favorite with 11 nominations, Louis Garrel’s The Innocent is the night’s big loser with just one more trophy for his screenplay.
In addition, Charlotte Le Bon, the only Québecian in the running, was left empty-handed in the Best First Feature category.
By winning his second director’s statuette 22 years after Harry a friend who want you well, Dominik Moll had “a thought about the real Clara, the true victim of the affair from which the film arose. Her name was Maud.
He paid tribute to French audiences “who have an appetite for films that are off the beaten path”: his Franco-Belgian thriller benefited from solid word-of-mouth and attracted 509,000 viewers.
However, the crowning achievement of La nuit du 12 and its feminist message do not hide the fact that there were no female directors among the nominees for the best director trophy.
“I Miss Her”
“The filmmakers had to take up the story” about violence against women, launched one of the film’s producers, Caroline Benjo. “Long live the women and long live the men who join their struggle,” she added in a powerful speech, hearing tears in the eyes of actress Judith Chemla, who publicly denounced the domestic violence she suffered.
This signal was all the more awaited as the nominations left the directors out even more than in previous years: no nomination for best director, only one for best film (Valéria Bruni Tedeschi).
Several award winners used their thanks to bring them out of oblivion.
Virginie Efira thus dedicated her César to her director Alice Winocour and “extended it” to others, including Rebecca Zlotowski (The Children of Others, also absent from the nominations).
“We won’t be passing through, another fad! “, promised filmmaker Alice Diop, César for the best first film for Saint Omer.
Tonie Marshall is still the only woman to receive a César for Best Director with Venus Beauté (Institute) (2000).
Noémie Merlant had a thought for all those “who should be celebrated”. “I miss her,” said the actress, César for Best Supporting Actress for L’Innocent.
In a completely different category, Brad Pitt made a surprise appearance to present an honorary Cesar to one of the filmmakers who invented his game, David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club).
“I applaud the culture of French cinema, your commitment to a cinema that reflects what we are at our smallest and simplest, and not just our heroic aspirations when we put on tights,” Fincher said.
The Caesars have not forgotten Ukraine, mentioned by Louis Garrel (this country “has been experiencing tragedy for a year because of this crazy and criminal war”), nor Iran, by Golshifteh Farahani (“Choose this regime or we, the Iranians People”).
A climate activist supporting the Last Renovation collective, wearing a T-shirt that read “We have 761 days left” (we have 761 days left), briefly interrupted the start of the ceremony before leaving. This sequence was not broadcast on Canal+, the Césars’ channel.