The Night of the 12th scoops the Cesar for Best Film
- Dominik Moll’s feature film clearly dominated the awards by way of six victories, while Virginie Efira and Benoît Magimel were crowned best actors
Made brighter by the surprise attendance of (and speech given by) Brad Pitt on the occasion of the tribute paid to David Fincher, and taking a far more dynamic form than usual, the 48th Cesar Awards ceremony was largely dominated by Dominik Moll’s The Night of the 12th [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dominik Moll
film profile]. Crowned Best French Film of 2022, this feature film first unveiled in the Cannes Première line-up walked away with a further five trophies in the categories of film direction, adaptation (courtesy of the filmmaker and Gilles Marchand), supporting actor (Belgium’s Bouli Lanners), male newcomer (Bastien Bouillon) and sound (François Maurel, Olivier Mortier and Luc Thomas). The movie is sold by Memento International.
Nominated for the fifth time in seven years, Belgium’s Virginie Efira at long last scooped the deserved title of Best Actress for her performance in Paris Memories [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Winocour
film profile], but it was Benoît Magimel who really owned the night viaPacifiction [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Albert Serra
film profile], pulling off an unprecedented double victory in the history of the Cesar Awards and walking away with the trophy for Best Actor for the second year in a row. It’s a second win which sees him joining the short list of actors who have also triumphed twice in this category (namely Philippe Noiret, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Michel Bouquet and Mathieu Amalric) and dreaming of equalling the record three wins achieved by Michel Serrault.
The remainder of the awards were shared out between the other films, namely Louis Garrel’s The Innocent [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (singled out twice, for Best Original Screenplay, as penned by the director alongside Tanguy Viel and Naïla Guiguet, and Best Supporting Actress courtesy of Noémie Merlant – out of 11 nominations), Éric Gravel’s Full Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eric Gravel
film profile] (Best Editing for Mathilde Van de Moortel and Best Soundtrack for Irène Drésel, the first ever woman to win this award) and Simone, A Woman of the Century by Olivier Dahan (thanks to Gigi Lepage’s costumes and Christian Marti’s set design).
Likewise worth a mention are the victories scored by Alice Diop’s Saint Omer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Diop
interview: Kayije Kagame
film profile] (Best First Film) and Jean-Gabriel Périot’s Returning to Reims (Fragments) [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Best Documentary), the impressive European result (Spain’s Artur Tort was recognised for his photography in Pacifiction, his compatriot Rodrigo Sorogoyen scooped Best Foreign Film via The Beasts [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Isabe…
film profile], and Czech director Michaela Pavlátová who nabbed a trophy for her animated feature film My Sunny Maad [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michaela Pavlátová
film profile]) and the confirmation of rising star Nadia Tereszkiewicz (crowned Best Female Newcomer via Forever Young [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
film profile]).
The full list of awards is as follows:
Best Film
The Night of the 12th [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dominik Moll
film profile] - Dominik Moll (France/Belgium)
Best Director
Dominik Moll – The Night of the 12th
Best Actress
Virginie Efira – Paris Memories [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Winocour
film profile]
Best Actor
Benoît Magimel - Pacifiction [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Albert Serra
film profile] (France/Spain/Germany/Portugal)
Best Original Screenplay
Louis Garrel, Tanguy Viel, Naïla Guiguet – The Innocent [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]
Best Adapted Screenplay
Gilles Marchand, Dominik Moll – The Night of the 12th
Best Supporting Actress
Noémie Merlant – The Innocent
Best Supporting Actor
Bouli Lanners – The Night of the 12th
Best Female Newcomer
Nadia Tereszkiewicz – Forever Young [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
film profile] (France/Italy)
Best Male Newcomer
Bastien Bouillon – The Night of the 12th
Best First Film
Saint Omer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Diop
interview: Kayije Kagame
film profile] – Alice Diop
Best Documentary
Returning to Reims (Fragments) [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Jean-Gabriel Périot
Best Animated Film
My Sunny Maad [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michaela Pavlátová
film profile] – Michaela Pavlátová (Czech Republic/France/Slovakia)
Best Foreign Film
The Beasts [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Isabe…
film profile] – Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Spain/France)
Best Original Soundtrack
Irène Drésel – Full Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eric Gravel
film profile]
Best Sound
François Maurel, Olivier Mortier, Luc Thomas – The Night of the 12th
Best Photography
Artur Tort – Pacifiction
Best Editing
Mathilde Van de Moortel – Full Time
Best Costumes
Gigi Lepage – Simone, A Woman of the Century
Best Set Design
Christian Marti – Simone, A Woman of the Century
Best Visual Effects
Laurens Erhmann – Notre-Dame on Fire [+see also:
trailer
film profile]
Best Short Fiction Film
Partir un jour – Amélie Bonnin
Best Animated Short
Granny’s Sexual Life – Urska Djukic, Émilie Pigeard (Slovenia/France)
Best Documentary Short
Maria Schneider, 1983 – Élisabeth Subrin
(Translated from French)
