25/02/2012 - Michel Hazanavicus' film was king of the César ceremony with six awards, but Omar Sy surprised everyone by winning Best Actor

With six César including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress for Bérénice Bejo, The Artist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michel Hazanavicius
film profile] by Michel Hazanavicius confirmed its status as overall favourite on Friday night in Paris, and added to an extraordinary collection of awards that it might further expand on Sunday at the Oscars. But the great surprise of the evening was Jean Dujardin losing the Best Actor Award to Omar Sy (pictured), whose explosive talent was revealed last year in the box office's star comedy Untouchable [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache.

The 2012 winners, chosen by French cinema professionals, were varied, with only The Minister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Schoeller
film profile] by Pierre Schoeller really doing well with three César awards, of which Best Script and Best Supporting Actor for Michel Blanc. Angèle and Tony [+see also:
trailer
film profile] also won two César awards for Most Promising Actor and Actress, acquiring the same number of awards as Poliss [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïwenn
film profile] by Maïwenn, although the film had garnered 13 nominations. The ceremony was equally disappointing for Declaration of War [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Valérie Donzelli, whose team went home empty-handed.

Finally, Spanish actress Carmen Maura (The Women on the 6th Floor [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) won Best Supporting Actress, the very funny When Pigs Have Wings [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Sylvain Estibal was awarded Best First Film, and A Separation by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi took away Best Foreign Film.

The winners:

Best Film
The Artist - produced by Thomas Langmann, directed by Michel Hazanavicius

Best Actress
Bérénice Bejo - The Artist

Best Actor
Omar Sy - Untouchable

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

Best Screenplay - Original
Pierre Schoeller - The Minister

Best Screenplay - Adaptation
Yasmina Rez and Roman Polanski - Carnage [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Best Supporting Actress
Carmen Maura - The Women on the 6th Floor

Best Supporting Actor
Michel Blanc - The Minister

Most Promising Actress
Naidra Ayadi - Poliss
Clotilde Hesme - Angèle and Tony

Most Promising Actor
Grégory Gadebois - Angèle and Tony

Best Animation Film
The Rabbi's Cat [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux

Best Documentary Film
Larzac [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Christian Rouaud

Best First Film
When Pigs Have Wings - Sylvain Estibal

Best Cinematography
Guillaume Schiffman - The Artist

Best Editing
Laure Gardette and Yann Dedet - Poliss

Best Original Soundtrack
Ludovic Bource - The Artist

Best Sound
Olivier Hespel, Julie Brenta, and Jean-Pierre Laforce - The Minister

Best Costume Design
Anaïs Romand - House of Tolerance [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adèle Haenel
film profile]

Best Production Design
Laurence Bennet - The Artist

Best Short Film
The Piano Tuner - Olivier Treiner

Best Foreign Film
A Separation - Asghar Farhadi

(Translated from French)