This 51st edition of the Cesar Awards had Hollywood flavor with Richard Linklater winning best director for “Nouvelle Vague,” a love letter to the French New Wave.

The film, which was acquired by Netflix at Cannes where it world premiered, led the race with 10 nominations and won best director, cinematography for David Chambille, costume for Pascaline Chavanne and editing for Catherine Schwartz. France’s equivalent to the Oscars and BAFTA’s, the Cesar Awards took place Thursday at the Olympia Theater in Paris where several political issues were raised in speeches, from the crisis in Iran to the threat of AI and pressures on the French film financing system.

“L’attachement,” which world premiered at Venice, stars Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Pio Marmaï. Tardieu beat out Linklater, Jafar Panahi (“It Was Just an Accident”), Dominik Moll (“Case 136”) and Hafsia Herzi (“The Little Sister”). The intimate drama also picked up best adapted screenplay and supporting actress for Vimala Pons.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Once Battle After Another” won the Cesar Award for best international feature, beating Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Oliver Laxe’s “Sirat,” Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent” and Guan Hu’s “Black Dog.”

Jim Carrey received this year’s honorary Cesar award and delivered emotional speech in French, after being introduced by Michel Gondry, who directed him in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” 22 years ago.

Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!”) presided over the show and delivered a sarcastic monologue that took aim at mounting criticism of the National Film Board (CNC) and France’s subsidized film financing system at a time when the box office is under pressure.

Her speech then became graver. “It hurts to imagine a world where thought itself could be killed. Culture, universities, research, journalism–these are our lungs. They’re what keep us alive. Without them, we suffocate or turn on each other.”

“French cinema is very much alive. It’s alive and fragile. I’d even say it’s alive because it’s fragile. You have to make many films for a few wonders to emerge. You have to train many people to strive for excellence. It’s precisely because art is fragile that we must protect it,” she said

Other Cesar winners included Stéphane Demoustier’s “The Great Arch,” a historical drama starring Claes Bang, which won best special effects for Lise Fischer and production design for Catherine Cosme; Herzi’s queer coming-of-age story “The Little Sister,” meanwhile, won best female newcomer for Nadia Melliti; Thierry Kliffa’s “The Richest Woman in the World,” a film loosely based on the 2010 Bettencourt Affair, won best actor for Laurent Lafitte; “Arco,” Ugo Bienvenu’s poetic animated feature produced by Natalie Portman, won best animated feature;

Ozon’s The Stranger, his adaptation of Albert Camus’ classic, won best supporting actor for Pierre Lottin; and Pauline Loquès’ “Nino” won best first film and actor for Théodore Pellerin.

Isabelle Huppert, who plays a flamboyant and wealthy heiress in “The Richest Woman in the World,” lost to Lea Drucker, who earned best actress award for her role in Moll’s “Case 137,” a procedural drama set during the yellow-jacket protests in Paris.

Tribute to French Icon Brigitte Bardot

The ceremony also included tribute to French icon Brigitte Bardot who died on Dec. 28, with a retrospective reel of scenes in movies such as “And God Created Woman” and “Contempt.”

The awards show took place just hours after Catherine Pégard was appointed France’s new culture minister, succeeding Rachida Dati.

Pégard was addressed by Emmanuel Curtil, the French voice of Jim Carrey, who spoke about the urgent need to protect voice performers from the growing threat of artificial intelligence.

Stars like Jim Carrey must be dubbed by actors, “not by artificial intelligence, but by human voices, human emotions for a human audience,” Curtil said, before adding, “We have a real bond with the public. 85% percent of French audiences watch films in the French-language version.”

“We need legislation — to protect artists and the public rather than the interests of tech giants,” he continued.

Politics surfaced again in the ceremony when Iranian actor Golshifteh Farahani delivered an impassioned speech condemning the Islamic Republic’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests that have led to thousands of deaths and mass arrests.

“Tonight, in this sparkling room, all eyes are turned toward a stage filled with stars. But my whole heart is elsewhere, in a country whose stars have been reduced to dust, to blood, or forced into silence,” Farahani said. “Recently, the regime has killed tens of thousands of people in the most brutal way. Many others have been injured, arrested, tortured. The entire country is in mourning. Thousands of innocent lives have been torn away.”

Presenting the César for best screenplay, she praised Panahi as “one of the greatest symbols of resistance in cinema.

“He was imprisoned and banned from filming. Yet he continued to create under tyranny and censorship. And that is precisely the spirit of the Iranian people,” she said. Panahi’s latest film, “It Was Just an Accident,” is nominated for best original screenplay and international feature film at the Oscars.

Here are the winners (bolded) of the 51st Cesar Awards:

Best Film

“L’attachement,” Carine Tardieu
“Case 137,” Dominik Moll
“Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater
“The Little Sister,” Hafsia Herzi
“It Was Just an Accident,” Jafar Panahi

Best Director

Carine Tardieu, “L’attachement”
Dominik Moll, “Case 137”
Stéphane Demoustier, “The Great Arch”
Richard Linklater, “Nouvelle Vague”
Hafsia Herzi, “The Little Sister”

Best Actress

Leïla Bekhti, “Ma Mère, Dieu et Sylvie Vartan”
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, “L’attachement”
Léa Drucker, “Case 137”
Isabelle Huppert, “The Richest Woman in the World”
Mélanie Thierry, “La Chambre de Mariana”

Best Actor

Claes Bang, “The Great Arch”
Bastien Bouillon, “Leave One Day”
Laurent Lafitte, “The Richest Woman in the World”
Pio Marmaï, “L’attachement”
Benjamin Voisin, “The Stranger”

Best Supporting Actress

Jeanne Balibar, “Nino”
Dominique Blanc, “Partir Un Jour”
Marina Foïs, “The Richest Woman in the World”
Ji-Min Park, “La Petite Dernière”
Vimala Pons, “L’attachement”

Best Supporting Actor

Swann Arlaud, “The Great Arch”
Xavier Dolan, “The Great Arch”
Michel Fau, “The Great Arch”
Pierre Lottin, “The Stranger”
Raphaël Personnaz, “The Richest Women in the World”

Best Female Newcomer

Manon Clavel, “Kika”
Suzanne Lindon, “La Venue de l’Avenir”
Nadia Melliti, “La Petite Dernière”
Camille Rutherford, “Jane Austen a Gâché Ma Vie”
Anja Verderosa, “L’Épreuve du Feu”

Best Male Newcomer

Idir Azougli, “Météors”
Sayyid El Alami, “La Pampa”
Félix Lefebvre, “L’Épreuve du Feu”
Guillaume Marbeck, “Nouvelle Vague”
Théodore Pellerin, “Nino”

Best Original Screenplay

Dominik Moll, Gilles Marchand, “Case 137”
Pauline Loquès, “Nino”
Holly Gent, Vince Palma, “Nouvelle Vague”
Franck Dubosc, Sarah Kaminsky, “Un Ours Dans le Jura”
Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just an Accident”

Best Adapted Screenplay

Carine Tardieu, Raphaëlle Moussafir, Agnès Feuvre, “L’attachement”
Stéphane Demoustier, “The Great Arch”
Hafsia Herzi, “The Little Sister”

Best Animated Feature

“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”

“Arco”

“My Castle Life: Growing Up in Versailles”

Best International Film

“The Secret Agent,” Kleber Mendonça Filho
“Black Dog,” Guan Hu
“Sirât,” Oliver Laxe
“One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson
“Sentimental Value,” Joachim Trier

Best Original Score

Arnaud Toulon, “Arco”
Olivier Marguerit, “Case 137”
Fatima Al Qadiri, “The Stranger”
Alex Beaupain, “The Richest Woman in the World”
Amine Bouhafa, “The Little Sister”

Best Sound

“Arco,” Nicolas Becker, Andrea Ferrera, Damien Lazzerini
“Le Chant des Forêts,“ Romain Cadilhac, Marc Namblard, Olivier Touche, Olivier Goinard
“Case 137,” François Maurel, Rym Debbarh-Mounir, Nathalie Vidal
“Nouvelle Vague,” Jean Minondo, Serge Rouquairol, Christophe Vingtrinier
“Leave One Day,” Rémi Chanaud, Jeanne Delplanco, Fanny Martin, Niels Barletta

Best Cinematography

Elin Kirschfink, “L’attachement”
Patrick Ghiringhelli, “Case 137”
Marine Atlan, “L’Engloutie”
Manu Dacosse, “The Stranger”
David Chambille, “Nouvelle Vague”

Best Editing

Stan Collet, “13 Jours, 13 Nuits”
Christel Dewynter, “L’attachement”
Laurent Rouan, “Case 137”
Catherine Schwartz, “Nouvelle Vague”
Géraldine Mangenot, “The Little Sister”

Best Costume Design

Céline Guignard, “La Condition”
Corinne Bruand, “Dracula”
Jürgen Doering, “The Richest Woman in the World”
Pascaline Chavanne, “Nouvelle Vague”
Pierre-Yves Gayraud, “La Venue de l’Avenir”

Best Production Design

Jean-Philippe Moreaux, “Dog 51”
Catherine Cosme, “L’Inconnu de la Grande Arche”
Riton Dupire-Clément, “Once Upon My Mother”
Katia Wyszkop, “Nouvelle Vague”
Marie Cheminel, “La Venue de l’Avenir”

Best Visual Effects

Cédric Fayolle, “Dog 51”
Rodolphe Chabrier, Benoît de Longlée, “L’Homme qui Rétrécit”
Lise Fischer, “The Great Arch”
Alain Carsoux, “Nouvelle Vague”

Best First Film

“Arco,” Ugo Bienvenu
“Hearts on Fire,” Aurélien Peyre
“Nino,” Pauline Loqués
“Block Pass,” Antoine Chevrollier
“Leave One Day,” Amélie Bonnin