‘The Night of the 12th’ Wins Best Picture at France’s Cesar Awards (Full Winners List)

Dominik Moll’s brooding procedural thriller “The Night of the 12th” won big at the 48th Cesar Awards Friday night in Paris.

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 the gruesome murder of a young woman. The film opened at Cannes in the Premieres section.

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Caroline Benjo, who produced “The Night of the 12th” with Carole Scotta and Simon Arnal at Haut et Court, made a searing speech denouncing the violence against women. “When Dominic and Gilles came to us to make this film it was obvious that we (needed to address this issue) and that the perspective of men on this matter was crucial, and that filmmakers had to tell this story,” said Benjo. “A few days ago, Dominic cited the philosopher Geneviève Fraisse during an interview saying (…) that #MeToo has liberated the voices, and now what’s needed is to liberate the listening.”

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 came as a surprise especially because 2022 was banner year for French female filmmakers, including Alice Diop (“Saint Omer”) and Claire Denis (“Stars at Noon”) who the festival circuit and scoring prizes.

“Saint Omer,” for which Alice Diop earned the Lion of the Future and the Golden Lion at Venice, was nominated for four Cesar awards and won best first film.

In her acceptance speech, Diop paid tribute to several 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!”

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.”

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

“Other directors often try to emulate him, but invariably fail because they think it’s just about the imagery. But if it was just about the imagery, we wouldn’t keep returning to his work and honoring him tonight,” said Pitt.

“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 movie starring Garrel, Roschdy Zem and Merlant. Produced by Anne-Dominique Toussaint at Les Films des Tournelles, the crowdpleaser world premiered out of competition at Cannes for the 75th anniversary of the festival.

Virginie Efira won best actress for her performance as a terror attack survivor in Alice Winocour’s “Paris Memories,” while Benoit Magimel won with Albert Serra’s “Pacifiction.” It was Magimel’s second consecutive win. He nabbed last year’s prize with “Peaceful” and beat out Adam Driver in “Annette.”

The ceremony also hosted a live performance by Charlotte Gainsbourg and the French rapper Dinos, and a moving tribute to late French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant. This 48th edition of the Cesar Awards was dedicated to Ukraine, and several winners mentioned the war in their speeches, while Iranian-French actor Golshifteh Farahani, who is part of the Berlin Film Festival jury, made a video appearance to call for solidarity with women who are being oppressed in Iran.

As every year, an intruder showed up on stage. A climate change activist from the org Dernière Rénovation burst on stage while Ahmed Sylla and Léa Drucker were about to present the nominees for best male newcomer.

The woman wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan “We have 761 days left” came into the shot on stage just as French actors Ahmed Sylla and Léa Drucker were about to present the prize for Best Male Newcomer.

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

Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “Beasts” 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. »

The full list of awards of 2023 Cesar Awards:

BEST FILM
“The Night Of The 12th,” producers Haut et Court

BEST DIRECTOR
Dominik Moll, “The Night Of The 12th”

BEST ACTRESS
Virginie Efira, “Paris Memories”

BEST ACTOR
Benoit Magimel, “Pacifiction”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Noemie Merlant, “The Innocent”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Bouli Lanners, “The Night Of The 12th”

BEST FEMALE NEWCOMER
Nadia Tereszkiewicz, “Forever Young”

BEST MALE NEWCOMER
Bastien Bouillon, “The Night Of The 12th”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Louis Garrel, Tanguy Viel, Naïla Guiguet, “The Innocent”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gilles Marchand, Dominik Moll, “The Night Of The 12th”

BEST DEBUT FEATURE
“Saint Omer,” Alice Diop

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“My Sunny Maad,” Michaela Pavlátová

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Returning To Reims (Fragments),” Jean-Gabriel Périot

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Artur Tort, “Pacification“

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Laurens Ehrmann, “Notre Dame On Fire”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Irene Dresel, “Full Time”

BEST SOUND
François Maurel, Olivier Mortier, Luc Thomas, “The Night Of The 12th”

BEST SET DESIGN
Christian Marti, “Simone – The Journey Of The Century”

BEST EDITING
Mathilde van de Moortel, “Full Time”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Gigi Lepage, “Simone – The Journey Of The Century”

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
“La Vie Sexuelle De Mamie,” Urška Djukić and Emilie Pigeard

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“Maria Schneider, 1983,” Elisabeth Subrin

BEST SHORT FILM
“Partir Un Jour,” Amélie Bonnin

BEST FOREIGN FILM
“The Beasts,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen

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