‘Anatomy of a Fall’ Named Best Picture
The Animal Kingdom was the other big winner at the annual French film academy honors, which gave a tribute to ‘Oppenheimer’ director Christopher Nolan.
The 49th Cesar Awards, France’s top film honors: Justine Triet‘s Oscar contender Anatomy of a Fall emerged as big winner.
The French courtroom drama — which is competing at the Oscars in five categories — earned the best film prize, best actress for Sandra Hüller, best director for Triet, best original screenplay shared between Triet and co-writer Arthur Harari, and Swann Arlaud took home the best supporting actor trophy.
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Hüller won in the best actress category over Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, nominated for Little Girl Blue; Lea Drucker, up for Last Summer; Hafsia Herzi, nominated for The Rapture; and Belgian actress Virginie Efira, nominated for her work in Just the Two of Us.
The other big winner on the night was The Animal Kingdom, French director Thomas Cailley’s follow-up to 2014’s Love at First Fight.
Cailley picked up the best cinematography trophy and a slew of wins in craft categories like best sound, original score, costumes and special effects.
Coming into the awards show, Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning Anatomy of a Fall and The Animal Kingdom led the field for the 2024 Cesar Awards.
Anatomy of a Fall picked up 11 Cesar noms and The Animal Kingdom, which bowed in Cannes and portrays people literally turning into animals because of mutations, earned 12 nods.
Both were nominated in the best film and best director categories. In other acting categories, Arieh Worthalter won best actor for his starring role in Cédric Kahn’s courtroom drama The Goldman Case, and Adèle Exarchopoulos won for best supporting actress for her star turn in All Your Faces.
Oppenheimer: Honorary Award for Director Chris Nolan
Oppenheimer director Nolan received an honorary Cesar for lifetime achievement at this year’s ceremony in Paris after being introduced during the gala ceremony by Cotillard.
“It’s always a thrill to open a film here. I have always really liked the French audiences and this love of cinema that you have has always had an impact on me,” Nolan told the Cesar ceremony when accepting his honor onstage. The other honorary Cesar on the night went to French actress, screenwriter and director Agnes Jaoui.
The Nature of Love by director Monia Chokri
Chokri was surprised her Quebec-set drama won over Oppenheimer, and apologized to Nolan while accepting the trophy.
The emotional highpoint at the Cesars this year was Judith Godrèche, an actress who has accused two French directors of assaulting her as a teenager, courageously addressing the French film industry and urging her peers to tackle the issue of sexual violence.
“Let’s have the courage to say out loud what we know deep down. Let’s not embody heroines onscreen, only to find ourselves hiding in the woods in real life; let’s not embody revolutionary or humanist heroes, only to wake up in the morning knowing that a director has abused a young actress, and say nothing,” Godrèche told the respectfully silent Cesar audience during a six-minute address preceded by a standing ovation as she came on stage.
Best Film
Anatomy of a Fall
Best Director
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall
Best Actress
Sandra Hüller for Anatomy of a Fall
Best Actor
Arieh Worthalter for The Goldman Case
Best Supporting Actress
Adèle Exarchopoulos for All Your Faces
Best Supporting Actor
Swann Arlaud for Anatomy of a Fall
Ella Rumpf for Marguerite’s Theorem
Best Newcomer Actor
Raphaël Quenard for Junkyard Dog
Best Original Screenplay
Justine Triet, Arthur Harari for Anatomy of a Fall
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Score
Andrea Laszlo de Simone for Animal Kingdom
Best Sound
Fabrice Osinkski, Raphael Sohier, Matthieu Fichet, Niels Barletta for Animal Kingdom
Best Cinematography
Davio Cailley for Animal Kingdom
Best Editing
Laurent Sénéchal for Anatomy of a Fall
Best Costume Design
Ariane Daurat for Animal Kingdom
Best Production Design
Stéphane Taillasson for The Three Musketeers (Part 1: D’Artagnan / Part 2: Milady)
Best Visual Effects
Cyrille Bonjean, Bruno Sommier, Jean-Louis Autret for Animal Kingdom
Best Short Film
L’Attente directed by Alice Douard, produced by Marie Boitard, Alice Douaro
Best Animated Feature
Chicken for Linda! directed by Chiara Malta, Sébastien Laudenbach, produced by Marc Irmer, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron
Best Animated Short: Summer 96, directed by Mathilde Bedouet
Best Documentary
Four Daughters directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, produced by Nadim Cheikhrouha
Best Documentary Short Film
Fluid Mechanics, directed by Gala Hernandez Lopez
Best First Feature
Best Foreign Film
The Nature of Love directed by Monia Chokri