Anatomy Of A Fall was named best French film of the year at the 49th annual César awards, among six prizes for Justine Triet’s film during an evening dominated by female solidarity that saw actress Judith Godrèche set the tone with a #MeToo-motivated speech.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Anatomy Of A Fall also earned prizes for best director for Triet, best actress for Sandra Hüller, best original screenplay for Triet and Arthur Harari, best supporting actor for Swann Arlaud and best editing for Laurent Senechal.
Triet’s best director prize made her the first female filmmaker to win the category since Tonie Marshall for Venus Beauty Institute in 2000. Triet was one of three women nominated in the category alongside Jeanne Herry for All Your Faces and Catherine Breillat for Last Summer – the most in Cesar history.
“Being the second woman in the history of the Césars to win this award in 49 years is significant,” said Triet. “It’s a bit scary and great at the same time. It gives hope for the future.”
Triet dedicated her best film award to “all women… those who succeed and those who fail, those who have been hurt and who free themselves by speaking out, and those who can’t.”
In the best actress category, all five nominees were selected for performances in films directed by women – a Cesar first. Huller, who is also Oscar-nominated for her role, accepted the award in perfect French, saying: “Thank you to this country for taking me into your arms. Justine, I can no longer imagine life without you.”
Anatomy Of A Fall, produced by Marie-Ange Luciani at Les Films de Pierre and David Thion at Les Films Pelleas, is distributed by Le Pacte in France and sold by mk2 Films.
Highlights
Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom also had a strong night at France’s leading film awards, taking home five awards for best score, costumes, cinematography, sound and special effects. The supernatural father-son drama first premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
The prize for best adapted screenplay went to Valerie Donzelli and Audrey Diwan for Just The Two Of Us, while best actor went to Arieh Worthalther for his role in Cedric Kahn’s The Goldman Case which opened Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight last May.
Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan and French actress/filmmaker Agnès Jaoui received honourary César awards. Marion Cotillard presented Nolan with his award, who spoke about his strong ties to France.
“My first film Following found its first audience here in Paris.” He added that when he followed with Memento, “no one in the world wanted to show it. UGC showed it at le Grand Rex and its success there changed my life. Ever since, my appreciation of French audiences and exhibitors and the love of cinema that you all have has never diminished.”
Sorority steals the spotlight
Female empowerment dominated the ceremony, led by actress Judith Godrèche, who took to the stage to make a speech about the prevalence of sexual assault in the film industry. Godrèche, who has been leading the charge of a galvanised #metoo movement in France in recent weeks, received a standing ovation before and after her speech in which she addressed the room full of film industry professionals and an estimated 3 million viewers watching on broadcaster Canal+.
“For some time now I’ve been talking and talking, but I don’t hear you, or I hardly heard you. Where are you? What are you saying? A whisper, half a word, even that would be enough,” she said, adding: “I know it’s scary to lose subsidies, to lose roles, to lose jobs. I’m scared too.”
Later in the evening Audrey Diwan referenced Godrèche’s bravery for speaking up while presenting the original screenplay award: “We’re all in agreement, right? No one supports sexism and sexual violence in this room, right?”
Godrèche has made waves after officially pressing charges against filmmakers Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon for sexual assault when she was underage, after a fictionalised account of her relationship with Jacquot when she was 14 and he was 40 came to light in her Arte-A24 series Icon Of French Cinema in December.
Since then, other actresses including Islid Le Besco, Vahina Giocante, Julia Roy and Anna Mouglalis have come forward with similar allegations against the filmmakers, both of whom continue to deny wrongdoing. The testimonials and industry reaction have been making headlines across French media and sparking conversation throughout the French industry.
Ahead of the ceremony, French gender equality group the Collectif 50/50 and artists’ rights organisation CGT Spectacle called for a staged protest in front of at L’Olympia, with a small group of protestors lining up near the ceremony’s venue armed with the battlecry “Violence, silence, that’s enough!”
Despite the #Metoo-fuelled and politically-charged acceptance speeches throughout the evening, the ceremony’s president actress-director Valerie Lemercier and diverse group of entertainers sharing hosting duties for the event kept the mood light and celebratory.
Cesar Awards 2024 Winners
Winners in bold
Best film
- Anatomy Of A Fall, dir. Justine Triet
- Junkyard Dog, dir. Jean-Baptiste Durand
- All Your Faces, dir. Jeanne Herry
- The Goldman Case, dir. Cédric Kahn
- The Animal Kingdom, dir. Thomas Cailley
Best directing
- Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall
- Catherine Breillat for Last Summer
- Jeanne Herry for All Your Faces
- Cédric Kahn for The Goldman Case
- Thomas Caillet for The Animal Kingdom
Best actress
- Marion Cotillard in Little Girl Blue
- Léa Drucker in Last Summer
- Virginie Efira in Just The Two of Us
- Hafsia Herzi in The Rapture
- Sandra Hüller in Anatomy of a Fall
Best actor
- Romain Duris in The Animal Kingdom
- Benjamin Lavernhe in L’Abbé Pierre: A Century of Devotion
- Melvil Poupaud in Just The Two of Us
- Raphaël Quenard in Yannick
- Arieh Worthalter in The Goldman Case
Best supporting actress
- Leila Bekhti in All Your Faces
- Galatea Bellugi in Junkyard Dogs
- Elodie Bouchez in All Your Faces
- Adèle Exarchopoulos in All Your Faces
- Miou Miou in All Your Faces
Best supporting actor
- Swann Arlaud in Anatomy of a Fall
- Anthony Bajon in Junkyard Dogs
- Arthur Harari in The Goldman Case
- Pio Marmaï in Yannick
- Antoine Reinartz in Anatomy of a Fall
Most promising actress
- Céleste Brunnquell in No Love Lost
- Kim Higelin in Consent
- Suzanne Jouannet in The Path of Excellence
- Rebecca Marder in Grand Expectations
- Ella Rumpf in Marguerite’s Theorem
Most promising actor
- Julien Frison in Marguerite’s Theorem
- Paul Kircher in The Animal Kingdom
- Samuel Kircher in Last Summer
- Milo Machado-Graner in Anatomy of a Fall
- Raphaël Quenard in Junkyard Dogs
Best original screenplay
- Justine Triet, Arthur Harari for Anatomy of a Fall
- Jean-Baptiste Durand for Junkyard Dogs
- Jeanne Herry for All Your Faces
- Nathalie Hertzberg, Cédric Kahn for The Goldman Case
- Thomas Cailley, Pauline Munier for The Animal Kingdom
Best adapted screenplay
- Valérie Donzelli, Audrey Diwan for Just The Two of Us
- Vanessa Filho for Consent
- Catherine Breillat for Last Summer
Best score
- Gabriel Yared for Just The Two of Us
- Delphine Malausséna for Junkyard Dogs
- Vitalic for Disco Boy
- Andrea Laszlo de Simone for The Animal Kingdom
- Guillaume Roussel for The Three Musketeers (part 1 : D’Artagnan/part 2 : Milady)
Best special effects
- Thomas Duval for Acid
- Lise Fischer, Cédric Fayolle for The Mountain
- Cyrille Bonjean, Bruno Sommier, Jean-Louis Autret for The Animal Kingdom
- Olivier Cauwet for The Three Musketeers (Part 1 and 2)
Best sound
- Julien Sicart, Fanny Martin, Jeanne Delplancq, Olivier Goinard for Anatomy of a Fall
- Rémi Daru, Guadalupe Cassius, Loic Prian, Marc Doisne for All Your Faces
- Erwan Kerzanet, Sylvain Malbrant, Olivier Guillaume for The Goldman Case
- Fabrice Osinski, Raphaël Sohier, Matthieu Fichet, Niels Barletta for The Animal Kingdom
Best editing
- Laurent Sénéchal for Anatomy of a Fall
- Francis Vesin for All Your Faces
- Valérie Loiseleux for Little Girl Blue
- Yann Dedet for The Goldman Case
- Lilian Corbeille for The Animal Kingdom
Best cinematography
- Simon Beaufils for Anatomy of a Fall
- Jonathan Ricquebourg for The Taste of Things
- Patrick Ghiringhelli for The Goldman Case
- David Cailley for The Animal Kingdom
- Nicolas Bolduc for The Three Musketeers (Part 1 and 2)
Best set design
- Emmanuelle Duplay for Anatomy of a Fall
- Angelo Zamparutti for Jeanne Du Barry
- Toma Baquéni for The Taste of Things
- Julia Lemaire for The Animal Kingdom
- Stéphane Taillasson for The Three Musketeers (Part 1 and 2)
Best costumes
- Jürgen Doering for Jeanne Du Barry
- Pascaline Chavanne for The Crime is Mine
- Tran Nuyên Khê for The Taste of Things
- Ariane Daurat for The Animal Kingdom
- Thierry Delettre for The Three Musketeers (Part 1 and 2)
Best animated film
- No Dogs or Italians Allowed dir. Alain Ughetto
- Chicken for Linda! dir. Chiara Malta & Sébastien Laudenbach
- Mars Express dir. Jérémie Périn
Best foreign film
- Kidnapped dir. Marco Bellocchio
- Fallen Leaves dir. Aki Kaurismaki
- Oppenheimer dir. Christopher Nolan
- Perfect Days dir. Wim Wenders
- The Nature of Love dir. Monia Chokri
Best first film
- Bernadette dir. Léa Domenach
- Junkyard Dogs dir. Jean-Baptiste Durand
- Vermines dir. Sebastien Vanicek
- The Rapture dir. Iris Kaltenbäck
- Vincent Must Die dir. Stéphan Castang
Best documentary
- Four Daughters dir. Kaouther Ben Hania
- Little Girl Blue dir. Mona Achache
- Our Body dir. Claire Simon
- Atlantic Bar dir. Fanny Molins
- On The Adamant dir. Nicolas Philibert
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