17/02/2003

The Lumières are to the Césars as the Golden Globes are to the Oscars. The Lumière Academy is made up of 200 French-based foreign journalists who vote for their favourite films every year. The Lumière Awards for the best of 2002 were presented on 14 February, exactly one week before the Césars are due.
This year’s winners were: Amen by Constantin Costa-Gavras – best film; best director went to homeboy François Ozon for 8 Women [+see also:
trailer
film profile] while fellow Gaul, Cédric Klapisch, won best screenplay for L’Auberge Espagnole.
French veteran Jean Rochefort won the best actor Lumière for L’homme du Train [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Patrice Leconte while the best actress nod went to Isabelle Carré for Se souvenir des belles choses by Zabou Breitman. Best acting newcomers were Cécile de France (L’auberge espagnole) and Gaspard Ulliel (Kiss whoever you want).
The Lumière Award for Best French-language film produced outside France went to Belgian duo Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Le Fils - The Son [+see also:
trailer
film profile].
The Lumière Awards were organised by the outgoing president of the "Avances sur recettes" Commission, Frédéric Mitterand who paid tribute to Daniel Toscan du Plantier (who died on 11 February) who founded the Lumière Awards in 1995 with Edward Behr, a journalist with Newsweek Magazine.

(Translated from French)