Despite the controversies surrounding the film in the US, France has awarded Jacques Audiard’s cartel trans musical ‘Emilia Pérez’ seven Césars, including Best Film – beating favourites like ‘The Count Of Monte Cristo’ and ‘Beating Hearts’.
Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón made her first awards show appearance at last night’s César Awards after keeping out of the awards circuit these last few weeks.
She did so due to the offensive posts that were unearthed and effectively torpedoed the film’s chances at Academy Awards glory.
It turns out she was right to show up to France’s equivalent of the Oscars, as she may have left empty-handed, but Jacques Audiard’s Spanish language cartel musical won a total of seven trophies at the 50th edition of the awards.
Emilia Pérez made a sweep by winning Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Original Music and Best Special Effects.
Scroll down for the full rundown of this year’s winners.
Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón were both nominated for Best Actress, but lost to Hafsia Herzi, who starred as a prison supervisor in Stéphane Demoustier’s Borgo.
Audiard, who has now won 12 Césars, made a brief speech when accepting his Best Director award.
“It’s such a pleasure although I fear you actually don’t like me,” he quipped, visibly moved. “I thank my marvellous team and when I say my team it’s not in the sense of ownership, but rather a declaration of love. The same goes for the actresses. My darling Zoe, my darling Carla, my darling Adriana who is not here, Selena who is not here. I loved working with you, I love you.”
Emilia Perez’s chances of winning Best Picture at the Oscars are basically non-existent at this point due to the scandal sparked by the discovery of Gascón’s offensive tweets. The backlash hasn’t had the same impact in France as it has in the US, however, and we’re still predicting that Emilia Pérez will win at least three Oscars on Sunday, including Best International Film.
Elsewhere, French blockbuster The Count of Monte Cristo and critical darling Beating Hearts, who each had 14 and 13 nominations respectively, missed out on major gongs. The Count of Monte Cristo only won Best Costume and Best Set Design, while Beating Hearts won Best Supporting Actor for Alain Chabat.
Boris Lojkine’s Souleymane’s Story fared much better, by winning four awards, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Male Newcomer for Abou Sangare, who stars as the titular Guinean immigrant navigating the streets of Paris where he works as a bike courier ahead of his asylum interview.
The evening’s honorary tribute to Julia Roberts included retrospective of clips from Roberts’ career – a moment that led the actress to say that she “didn’t recognize half of that work.”
“It has been incredible. It has been many years where I’ve had the opportunity, every day, to experience my dream. I’m grateful for the people that I have allowed me to live this dream,” Roberts said. She also thanked Catherine Deneuve for “being born” and “making the world of movies a better place.”
Here is the full list of this year’s César winners:
Best Film
The Count of Monte CristoEmilia Pérez (WINNER)The Marching BandSouleymane’s StoryMisericordia
Best Director
Gilles Lellouche – Beating Hearts Matthieu Delaporte & Alexandre de la Patellière – The Count Of Monte Cristo Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez (WINNER)Boris Lojkine – Souleymane’s Story Alain Guiraudie – Misericordia
Best Actress
Adèle Exarchopoulos – Beating Hearts Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez Hafsia Herzi – Borgo (WINNER)Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez Hélène Vincent – When Fall Is Coming
Best Actor
François Civil – Beating Hearts Benjamin Lavernhe – The Marching Band Karim Leklou – Jim’s Story (WINNER)Pierre Niney – The Count of Monte-Cristo Tahar Rahim – Monsieur Aznavour
Female Revelation
Maïwène Barthelemy – Holy Cow (WINNER)Malou Khebizi – Wild Diamond Megan Northam – Rabia Mallory Wanecque – Beating Hearts Souheila Yacoub – Planet B
Male Revelation
Abou Sangare – Souleymane’s Story (WINNER)Adam Bessa – Ghost Trail Malik Frikah – Beating Hearts Félix Kysil – Misericordia Pierre Lottin – The Marching Band
Best Supporting Actress
Élodie Bouchez – Beating Hearts Anaïs Demoustier – The Count of Monte Cristo Catherine Frot – Misericordia Nina Meurisse – Souleymane’s Story (WINNER)Sarah Suco – The Marching Band
Best Supporting Actor
David Alaya – Misericordia Bastien Bouillon – The Count of Monte Cristo Alain Chabat – Beating Hearts(WINNER)Jacques Develay – Misericordia Laurent Lafitte – The Count of Monte Cristo
Best Original Screenplay
Stéphane Demoustier – Borgo Emmanuel Courcol & Irène Muscari – The Marching Band Boris Lojkine & Delphine Agut – Souleymane’s Story (WINNER)Alain Guiraudie – Misericordia Louise Courvoisier & Théo Abadie – Holy Cow
Best Adapted Screenplay
Matthieu Delaporte & Alexandre de la Patellière – The Count Of Monte-Cristo Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez (WINNER)Michel Hazanavicius & Jean-Claude Grumberg – The Most Precious Of Cargoes
Best First Film
Wild Diamond – Agathe Riedinger Ghost Trail – Jonathan Millet The Kingdom – Julien Colonna A Little Something Extra – Artus Holy Cow – Louise Courvoisier (WINNER)
Best Foreign Film
Anora – Sean Baker The Seed of The Sacred Fig Tree – Mohammad Rasoulof The Apprentice – Ali Abbasi The Substance – Coralie Fargeat The Zone Of Interest – Jonathan Glazer (WINNER)
Best Animated Feature
Flow – Gint Zilbalodis (WINNER)The Most Precious of Cargoes – Michel Hazanavicius Savages – Claude Barras
Best Documentary
The Belle from Gaza Bye Bye Tiberias Dahomey Ernest Cole: Lost and Found The Bertrand’s Farm (WINNER)Madame Hofmann
Best Cinematography
Beating Hearts The Count of Monte Cristo Emilia Pérez (WINNER)Souleymane’s Story Misericordia
Best Sound
Beating Hearts The Count of Monte Cristo Emilia Pérez (WINNER)The Marching Band Souleymane’s Story
Best Editing
Beating Hearts The Count of Monte Cristo Emilia Pérez The Marching Band Souleymane’s Story (WINNER)
Best Costumes
Beating Hearts The Count of Monte Cristo (WINNER)Emilia Pérez Monsieur Aznavour The Divine Sarah Bernhardt
Best Production Design
Beating Hearts The Count of Monte Cristo (WINNER)Emilia Pérez Monsieur Aznavour The Divine Sarah Bernhardt
