Out of 10 nominations, “The Night of the 12th” picked up best film, director, male newcomer for Bastien Bouillon, supporting actor for Bouli Lanners, adapted screenplay and sound. Bouillon and Lanners star as two cops trying to solve a gruesome murder. The film opened at Cannes in the Premieres section.

Moll was one the five male directors vying for a Cesar Award. Like the Oscars, the Cesars were embroiled in controversy due to its failure to nominate female directors.

The omission was notable because 2022 was banner year for French female filmmakers, including Alice Diop (Saint Omer) and Claire Denis (Stars at Moon) who the festival circuit and scoring prizes.

In her acceptance speech, Diop paid tribute to female directors who made films last year which inspired her and were ignored by Cesar voters. She cited Rebecca Zlotowski (Other People’s Children), Claire Denis (Stars at Noon) and Mia Hansen-Love (One Fine Morning).

On stage with her producers, Christophe Barral and Toufik Ayadi, Diop said “We’re not going anywhere, and we’re not a trend!”

Besides Diop’s speech, the evening’s biggest highlight was the surprise visit of Brad Pitt who gave a colorful speech paying homage to American director David Fincher, this year’s Honorary Cesar recipient.

Brad Pitt, whose company Plan B was recently acquired by the Paris-based group Mediawan, stirred frenzy inside the Olympia.

The star of Saint Omer, Guslagie Malanda, was nominated for best female newcomer but lost to Nadia Tereszkiewicz, the actor of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s “Forever Young.”

The Innocent, which was nominated for 11 Cesar Awards, won best original screenplay and supporting actress for Noemie Merlant (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Tar”). The film is a romantic comedy heist starring Garrel, Roschdy Zem and Merlant.

Produced by Anne-Dominique Toussaint at Les Films des Tournelles, the crowd-pleaser world premiered out of competition at the 75th anniversary of Cannes festival.

Tahar Rahim, the critically acclaimed French actor of “A Prophet” and “The Serpent,” presided over the ceremony.

As Bestas

Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s As Bestas won best foreign film, beating out Lukas Dhont’s “Close,” Tarik Saleh’s “Cairo Conspiracy,” Jerry Skolimowski’s “EO,” and Ruben Ostlund’s “Triangle of Sadness. »

Here’s the list of nominations for the 2023 Cesar Awards with winners in bold (updating live):

Best Film 
“Forever Young”
“Rise”
“The Innocent”
The Night Of The 12th
“Pacification”

Best Director

Cedric Klapisch, “Rise”
Louis Garrel, “The Innocent”
Cedric Jimenez, “November”
Dominik Moll, “The Night Of The 12th
Albert Serra, “Pacification”

Fanny Ardant, “The Young Lovers”
Juliette Binoche, “Between Two Worlds”
Laure Calami, “Full Time”
Virginie Efira, “Paris Memories”
Adele Exarchopoulos, “Zero Fucks Given”

Best Actor
Jean Dujardin, “November”
Louis Garrel, “The Innocent”
Vincent Macaigne, “Diary Of A Fleeting Affair”
Benoit Magimel, “Pacification”
Denis Menochet, “Peter von Kant”

Best Supporting Actress
Judith Chemla, “Le Sixieme Enfant”
Anais Demoustier, “November”
Anouk Grinberg, “The Innocent”
Lyna Khoudri, “November”
Noemie Merlant, “The Innocent”

Best Supporting Actor
Francois Civil, “Rise”
Bouli Lanners, “The Night Of The 12th
Micha Lescot, “Forever Young”
Pio Marmai, “Rise”
Roschdy Zem, “The Innocent”

Best Female Newcomer
Marion Barbeau, “Rise”
Guslagie Malanda, “Saint Omer”
Rebecca Marder, “A Radiant Girl”
Nadia Tereszkiewicz, “Forever Young”
Mallory Wanecque, “The Worst Ones”

Best Male Newcomer

Bastien Bouillon, The Night Of The 12th
Stefan Crepon, “Peter Von Kant”
Dimitri Dore, Bruno Reidal, “Confessions Of A Murderer”
Paul Kircher, “Winter Boy”
Aliocha Reinert, “Softie”

Best Original Screenplay

Eric Gravel, “Full Time”
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Noemie Lvovsky, Agnes de Sacy, “Forever Young”

Cedric Klapisch, Santiago Amigorena, “Rise”
Louis Garrel, Tanguy Viel, Naïla Guiguet, “The Innocent”
Alice Diop, Amrita David, Marie Ndiaye, “Saint Omer”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius, “Final Cut”
Thierry de Peretti, Jeanne Aptekman, “Undercover”
Gilles Marchand, Dominik Moll, “The Night Of The 12th”

Best Original Score
Irene Dresel, “Full Time”
Alexandre Desplat, “Final Cut”
Gregoire Hetzel, “The Innocent”
Olivier Marguerit, “The Night Of The 12^th“
Marc Verdaguer, Joe Robinson, “Pacifiction”
Anton Sanko, “The Passengers Of The Night”

Best Sound
Cyril Moisson, Nicolas Moreau, Cyril Holtz, “Rise”
Laurent Benaim, Alexis Meynet, Olivier Guillaume, “Innocent”
Cedric Deloche, Alexis Place, Gwennole Le borgne, Marc Doisne, “November”
François Maurel, Olivier Mortier, Luc Thomas, “The Night Of The 12^th“
Jordi Ribas, Benjamin Laurent, Bruno Tarriere, “Pacification”

Best Cinematography:
Julien Poupard, “Forever Young”
Alexis Kavyrchine, “Rise”
Patrick Ghiringhelli, “The Night Of The 12^th“
Artur, “Pacifiction”
Claire Mathon, “Saint Omer”

Best editing:
Mathilde van de Moortel, Full Time
Anne-Sophie Bion, Rise
Pierre Deschamps, The Innocent
Laure Gardette, Novembre
Laurent Rouan, The Night Of The 12th

Best Costume Design:
Caroline de Vivaise, “Forever Young”
Pierre-Jean Larroque, “The Colours Of Fire”
Emmanuelle Youchnovski, “Waiting For Bojangles”
Corinne Bruand, “The Innocent”
Praxedes de Vilallonga, “Pacification”
Gigi Lepage, “Simone – Journey Of The Century”

Best Set Design:
Emmanuelle Duplay, “Forever Young”
Sebastian Birchler, “The Colours Of Fire”
Michel Barthelemy, “The Night Of The 12^th“
Sebastian Vogler, Pacifiction
Christian Marti, Simone – The Voyage Of The Century

Best Visual Effects:
Guillaume Marien, The Five Devils
Sebastien Rame, Smoking Causes Coughing,
Laurens Ehrmann, Notre Dame On Fire
Mikael Tang Uy, November
Marco del Bianco, Pacifiction