Emila Pérez picks up clutch of Césars

The president of this year’s Césars Catherine Deneuve bestowed the Best Film César to Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez

Jacques Audiard’s Mexican drug cartel musical Emilia Pérez emerged as the big winner at the 50th anniversary edition of the French César awards at the Olympic theatre in Paris although the success won’t necessarily boost its chances at the Oscars on Sunday.

Julia Roberts took home an Honorary César

It won Best Film and Best Director for Audiard among several of the glittering prizes – a total of seven from its starting point of 12 nominations. The row around a controversial Tweet by Pérez actress Karlia Sofia Gascón appeared not to have harmed its chances in France with master of ceremonies Jean-Pascal Zadi beaming at Audiard that “We have to laugh …” The same attitude may not hold sway with the members of the Academy.

Although two box office hits The Count Of Monte Cristo from Alexandre Dumas’s classic and Gilles Lellouche’s crime romance Beating Hearts lead the fray in numbers of nominations (with 14 and 13 respectively) they came away with few if any of the major awards. The Count Of Monte Cristo nabbed set and costume statuettes while Beating Hearts scored only a Best Supporting Actor award for Gallic comic treasure Alain Chabat. And one of France’s biggest draws of the year A Little Something Extra, (set in a holiday camp for young adults with disabilities) failed to register with César voters.

Hafsia Herzi was an unexpected recipient of Best Actress award for the prison drama The Wrong Place/Borgo by Stéphane Démoustier while Karim Leklou was a popular choice as Best Actor for his performance in Jim’s Story/Le Roman du Jim by the Larrieu brothers.

Abou Sangare scooped Best Male Newcomer César for his performance as an immigrant working the streets of Paris as a bike courier ahead of his asylum interview in Boris Lojkine’s The Story Of Souleymane – not unlike Sangare’s own background. In an emotional moment he revealed that he only secured his visa to remain in France a month ago. Nina Meurisse took best supporting actress for her role alongside Sangare, and there were nods for original script and editing.

Holy Cow/Vingt Dieux, a first film by Louise Courvoisier, and featuring many of her own family in a rural tale around cheese-making competition won Best First Film with her lead actress Maïwène Barthèlmy awarded Best Female Newcomer. Another film with a country background Bertrand’s Farm/La Ferme des Bertrand by Gilles Perret was cited as Best Documentary.

Emilia Pérez took the top prize at the Césars Photo: Shanna Besson

An injection of Hollywood star power came via Julia Roberts, receiving an Honorary César from her Closer co-star Clive Owen. Her inimitable widescreen smile was working overtime as she joked that she could rarely recognise the clips played as part of the tribute. The Pretty Woman and Erin Brockovich star praised all the people who had helped her realise “the drea”.

Activist veteran director Costa-Gavras (Z, Missing, The Sleeping Car Murders) who was given a lifetime achievement César recalled his early days at the Sorbonne and how he had surmounted all the obstacles and found his place in France “as a Greek immigrant.”

French director Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance which will be competing for five Academy Awards on Sunday, was overlooked as Best Foreign Film in favour of Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust drama The Zone Of Interest.

Best Film

• The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo
• WINNER: Emilia Pérez
• The Marching Band/En Fanfare
• The Story Of Souleymane/L’histoire De Souleymane
• Misericordia/Miséricorde

Best Director

• Gilles Lellouche (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre De La Patelliere (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• WINNER: Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)
• Boris Lojkine (The Story Of Souleymane/L’histoire De Souleymane)
• Alain Guiraudie (Misericordia/Miséricorde)

Best Actress

• Adèle Exarchopoulos (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez)
• WINNER: Hafsia Herzi (The Wrong Place/Borgo)
• Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)
• Hélène Vincent (When Fall Is Coming/Quand Vient L'automne)

Best Actor

• François Civil (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• Benjamin Lavernhe (The Marching Band/En Fanfare)
• WINNER: Karim Leklou (Jim’s Story/Le Roman De Jim)
• Pierre Niney (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• Tahar Rahim (Monsieur Aznavour)

Best Supporting Actress

• Élodie Bouchez (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• Anaïs Demoustier (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• Catherine Frot (Misericordia/Miséricorde)
• WINNER: Nina Meurisse (The Story Of Souleymane/L’histoire De Souleymane)
• Sarah Suco (The Marching Band/En Fanfare)

Best Supporting Actor

• David Ayala (Misericordia/Miséricorde)
• Bastien Bouillon (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• WINNER: Alain Chabat (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• Jacques Develay (Misericordia/Miséricorde)
• Laurent Lafitte (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)

Female Newcomer

• WINNER: Maïwène Barthèlemy (Holy Cow/Vingt Dieux)
• Malou Khebizi (Diamant Brut)
• Megan Northam (Rabia)
• Mallory Wanecque (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• Souheila Yacoub (Planète B)

Male Newcomer

• WINNER: Abou Sangare (The Story Of Souleymane/L’histoire De Souleymane)
• Adam Bessa (Ghost Trail/Les Fantômes)
• Malik Frikah (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• Félix Kysyl (Misericordia/Miséricorde)
• Pierre Lottin (The Marching Band/En Fanfare)

Best Original Screenplay

• Stéphane Demoustier (The Wrong Place/Borgo)
• Emmanuel Courcol, Irène Muscari (The Marching Band/En Fanfare)
• WINNER: Boris Lojkine, Delphine Agut (The Story Of Souleymane/L’histoire De Souleymane)
• Alain Guiraudie (Misericordia/Miséricorde)
• Louise Courvoisier, Théo Abadie (Holy Cow/Vingt Dieux)

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre De La Patellière (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• WINNER: Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)
• Michel Hazanavicius, Jean-Claude Grumberg (The Most Precious Of Cargoes/La Plus Précieuse Des Marchandises)

Best Original Score

• Jon Brion (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• Jérôme Rebotier (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• WINNER: Clément Ducol, Camille (Emilia Pérez)
• Alexandre Desplat (The Most Precious Of Cargoes/La Plus Précieuse Des Marchandises)
• Linda Courvoisier, Charlie Courvoisier (Holy Cow/Vingt Dieux)

Best Sound

• Cédric Deloche, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Jon Goc, Marc Doisne ((Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• David Rit, Gwennolé Le Borgne, Olivier Touche, Laure-Anne Darras, Marion Papinot, Marc Doisne, Samuel Delorme (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• WINNER: Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Cyril Holtz, Niels Barletta (Emilia Pérez)
• Pascal Armant, Sandy Notarianni, Niels Barletta (The Marching Band/En Fanfare)
• Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak, Samuel Aïchoun (The Story Of Souleymane/L’histoire De Souleymane)

Best Cinematography

• Laurent Tangy (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• Nicolas Bolduc (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• Paul Guilhaume (Emilia Pérez)
• WINNER: Tristan Galand (The Story Of Souleymane/L’histoire De Souleymane)
• Claire Mathon (Misericordia/Miséricorde)

Best Editing

• Simon Jacquet (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• Célia Lafitedupont (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• Juliette Welfling (Emilia Pérez)
• Guerric Catala (The Marching Band/En Fanfare)
• WINNER: Xavier Sirven (The Story Of Souleymane/L’histoire De Souleymane)

Best Costumes

• Isabelle Pannetier (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• WINNER: Thierry Delettre (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• Virginie Montel (Emilia Pérez)
• Isabelle Mathieu (Monsieur Aznavour)
• Anaïs Romand (The Divine Sarah Bernhardt/Sarah Bernhardt, La Divine)

Best Set Design

• Jean-Philippe Moreaux (Beating Hearts/L’amour Ouf)
• WINNER: Stéphane Taillasson (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• Emmanuelle Duplay (Emilia Pérez)
• Stéphane Rozenbaum (Monsieur Aznavour)
• Olivier Radot (The Divine Sarah Bernhardt/Sarah Bernhardt, La Divine)

Best Visual Effects

• Cédric Fayolle, Hugues Namur, Émilien Lazaron (The Beast/La Bête)
• Olivier Cauwet (The Count Of Monte Cristo/Le Comte De Monte Cristo)
• WINNER: Cédric Fayolle (Emilia Pérez)
• Stéphane Dittoo (Monsieur Aznavour)

Best Animation

• WINNER: Flow/Flow, Le Chat Qui N’avait Plus Peur De L’eau Réalisé
• The Most Precious Of Cargoes/La Plus Précieuse Des Marchandises
• Savages/Sauvages

Best Documentary

• The Belle From Gaza/La Belle De Gaza
• Bye Bye Tiberias/Bye Bye Tibériade
• Dahomey
• Ernest Cole: Lost And Found/Ernest Cole, Photographe
• WINNER: Bertrand’s Farm/La Ferme Des Bertrand
• Madame Hofmann

Best First Film

• Diamant Brut
• Ghost Trail/Les Fantômes
• The Kingdom/Le Royaume
• A Little Something Extra/Un P’tit Truc En Plus
• WINNER: Holy Cow/Vingt Dieux

Best Foreign Film

• Anora
• The Seed Of The Sacred Fig
• The Apprentice
• The Substance
• WINNER: Zone Of Interest