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CÉSARS 2016

The César for Best Film goes to Fatima

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- Philippe Faucon’s feature has gone home with the top prize, while Catherine Frot and Vincent Lindon won the Best Actress and Actor Awards

The César for Best Film goes to Fatima
Philippe Faucon with his César Award for Fatima

The results of the race for the 2016 César Award for Best Film looked set to be anyone’s guess, with no clear favourite emerging (contrary to what usually happens), but the verdict surpassed all expectations, coming as a surprise to everyone, as it was a clear outsider that came out on top: namely, Fatima [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philippe Faucon
film profile
]
 by Philippe Faucon. Nonetheless, on the cinematic front, the accolade is richly deserved for this talented and seasoned filmmaker who, with this feature (revealed in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight), has made a moving work about a first-generation immigrant and her two daughters, and their place in French society. Fatima also made its evening at the Césars more productive with two additional trophies (out of its four nominations in total), in the Best Adaptation (with a screenplay written by the director himself) and Most Promising Actress (Zita Hanrot) categories.

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The Best Actor and Actress Awards crowned the two big favourites, two performers who had never won this accolade before. Catherine Frot was named Best Actress (after having been nominated six times in the past) thanks to her performance in Marguerite [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile
]
by Xavier Giannoli (which racked up four Césars in total, with a hat-trick in the technical categories of Best Sound, Best Production Design and Best Costumes), while Vincent Lindon, who already won at Cannes, finally took home the Best Actor Award (after five nominations in the past) for The Measure of a Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphane Brizé
film profile
]
by Stéphané Brizé.

Interestingly, Mustang [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
film profile
]
 by Deniz Gamze Ergüven (nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film, which will be given out on Sunday night) also snagged four Césars: Best Debut Film, Best Original Screenplay (written by the director and Alice Winocour), Best Score (Warren Ellis) and Best Editing (Mathilde Van de Moortel). Standing out among the other winners was Standing Tall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuelle Bercot
film profile
]
 by Emmanuelle Bercot with two acting Césars (Best Supporting Actor for Benoît Magimel and Most Promising Actor for Rod Paradot), while My Golden Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Arnaud Desplechin only won a single César, but without doubt a top-drawer one: Best Director.

Lastly, as for European talent, we should highlight the victory of Denmark’s Sidse Babett Knudsen in the Best Supporting Actress category, for her performance in Courted [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Film
Fatima [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philippe Faucon
film profile
]
 – Philippe Faucon

Best Director
Arnaud Desplechin – My Golden Days

Best Actress
Catherine Frot – Marguerite

Best Actor
Vincent Lindon – The Measure of a Man

Best Supporting Actress
Sidse Babett Knudsen – Courted [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]

Best Supporting Actor
Benoît Magimel – Standing Tall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuelle Bercot
film profile
]

Most Promising Actress
Zita Hanrot – Fatima

Most Promising Actor
Rod Paradot – Standing Tall

Best Original Screenplay
Deniz Gamze Ergüven and Alice Winocour – Mustang [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
film profile
]

Best Adaptation
Philippe Faucon – Fatima

Best Debut Film
Mustang – Deniz Gamze Ergüven

Best Documentary Film
Tomorrow [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
– Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent

Best Cinematography
Christophe Offenstein – Valley of Love

Best Editing
Mathilde Van de Moortel – Mustang

Best Original Score
Warren Ellis – Mustang

Best Sound
François Musy and Gabriel Hafner – Marguerite

Best Costumes
Pierre-Jean Larroque – Marguerite

Best Production Design
Martin Kurel – Marguerite

Best Animated Feature
The Little Prince [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
 – Mark Osborne

Best Animated Short
Sunday Lunch
 – Céline Devaux

Best Short Film
Back Alley
 – Cécile Ducrocq

Best Foreign Film
Birdman – Alejandro González Iñárritu

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(Translated from French)

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