Lumière Awards shine on The Artist and Bejo

Oscar frontrunner The Artist won best film at the Lumière Awards, the French equivalent of the Golden Globes judged by the foreign press corps in Paris, on Friday evening.

Maïwenn clinched best director for Poliss, her gritty portrait of a police unit specialising in the child welfare.

Best screenplay went to Jean-Louis Milesi and Robert Guediguian for The Snows of Kilimanjaro.

Canadian director Denis Villeneuve received the prize for best Francophone picture from outside France for his tragedy Incendies.

The Artist leading lady Bérénice Bejo picked up best actress. Omar Sy, co-star of the French box office hit Untouchable opposite François Cluzet, won best actor.

The prize for most promising new female actress was shared by Alice Barnole, Adèle Haenel and Céline Sallette for their performances in Bertrand Bonello’s House of Tolerance.

Denis Menochet won most promising new male actor for his performance in actress Mélanie Laurent’s directorial debut, family drama Les Adoptés.

Best Cinematography went to Pierre Aim for his work on Poliss, in a special prize given by the technicians body CST.

The Lumière Awards were launched in 1995 under the initiative of the late producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier and American journalist Edward Behr.