24/02/2017 - Paul Verhoeven’s film takes home the top prize. Isabelle Huppert and Gaspard Ulliel take away the trophies for Best Actress and Best Actor respectively

The Best French Film of the year award for 2016, presented at the 2017 César awards ceremony, went to Elle [+see also:
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This spirit of defiance in the face of the nationality of artists also brought home three Césars for It’s Only the End of the World [+see also:
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In a list of winners in which no one film dominates excessively, another film which stands out is Divines [+see also:
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interview: Houda Benyamina
film profile] by Houda Benyamina, who scored a hat-trick with the César for Best First Feature Film, the award for Best Supporting Actress (Déborah Lukumuena), and the award for Most Promising Actress (Oulaya Amamra). Along with Elle, only two other films bagged two awards: My Life as a Courgette [+see also:
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interview: Claude Barras
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interview: Arthur Harari
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The biggest loser of the evening was Frantz [+see also:
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Q&A: François Ozon
film profile] by François Ozon, which only bagged one César (for Director of Photography Pascal Marti) despite having received 11 nominations, whilst Slack Bay [+see also:
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Q&A: Bruno Dumont
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interview: Justine Triet
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Last but not least, worth mentioning was the tone of resistance set by the victory in the category of Best Foreign Film by I, Daniel Blake [+see also:
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The winners:

Best Film
Elle [+see also:
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Best Actress
Isabelle Huppert – Elle

Best Actor
Gaspar Ulliel – It’s Only the End of the World [+see also:
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Best Director
Xavier Dolan – It’s Only the End of the World

Best Original Screenplay
Solveig Anspach, Jean-Luc Gaget – The Together Project [+see also:
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Best Adaptation
Céline Sciamma – My Life as a Courgette [+see also:
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interview: Claude Barras
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Best Supporting Actress
Déborah Lukumuena – Divines [+see also:
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interview: Houda Benyamina
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Best Supporting Actor
James Thierrée – Chocolat [+see also:
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Most Promising Actress
Oulaya Amamra – Divines

Most Promising Actor
Niels Schneider – Dark Inclusion [+see also:
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interview: Arthur Harari
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Best First Feature Film
Divines – Houda Benyamina

Best Documentary
Merci Patron! [+see also:
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Best Animated Feature Film
My Life as a Courgette – Claude Barras

Best Cinematography
Pascal Marti – Frantz

Best Editing
Xavier Dolan – It’s Only the End of the World

Best Original Music
Ibrahim Maalouf – In the Forests of Siberia [+see also:
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Best Sound
Marc Engels, Fred Demolder, Sylvain Réty, Jean-Paul Hurier – The Odyssey [+see also:
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Best Costume Design
Anaïs Romand – The Dancer [+see also:
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Best Production Design
Jérémie D. Lignol – Chocolat

Best Short Film
Maman(s) – Maïmouna Doucouré
Vers la tendresse – Alice Diop

Best Animated Short Film
Ce qui a deux âmes – Fabrice Luang-Vija

Best Foreign Film
I, Daniel Blake [+see also:
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(Translated from French)