03/03/2018 - Robin Campillo’s film has dominated the winners’ list, trouncing See You up There; Jeanne Balibar and Swann Arlaud were crowned Best Actress and Actor

Robin Campillo, Marie-Ange Luciani and Hugues Charbonneau with their César Award for Best Film for BPM (Beats Per Minute) (© Juliette Paulet, Steven Baillin, Marie-Pierre Magherini - ENS Louis Lumière for the César Academy)

True to its status as the clear frontrunner, BPM (Beats Per Minute) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud Valois
interview: Robin Campillo
film profile] by Robin Campillo did indeed dominate the awards ceremony for this year’s Césars, bagging six trophies, including the top prize, Best French Film of 2017. The filmmaker added two personal victories to this win (for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing), while the feature also came out on top in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Antoine Reinartz), Most Promising Actor (Nahuel Perez Biscayart) and Best Original Music (Arnaud Rebotini). The movie, which scooped the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival last May, will now be able to benefit from the “César effect” to top up its current theatrical attendance levels (having taken 834,000 admissions so far in France).

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Also racking up 13 nods, See You up There [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Albert Dupontel held its own by leaving with five statuettes (the Césars for Best Director, Best Adaptation, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design).

The big surprise of the evening was when Bloody Milk [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hubert Charuel
film profile] by Hubert Charuel took home three César Awards, including Best Actor for Swann Arlaud. The other two were for Best First Feature Film and Best Supporting Actress (Sara Giraudeau).

While Jeanne Balibar’s win for Best Actress for her turn in Barbara [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (also singled out for its sound) had been widely expected, as was the César for Best Animated Feature Film snagged by Big Bad Fox [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Benjamin Renner and Patrick Imbert, and to a lesser extent that for Most Promising Actress (Camélia Jordana for her performance in Le Brio [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), uncertainty reigned supreme ahead of the verdict for the hotly contested Best Documentary category, which eventually saw victory for I Am Not Your Negro [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Raoul Peck. Lastly, we should point out that the César for Best Foreign Film went to Loveless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrey Zvyagintsev
film profile] by Russia’s Andrey Zvyagintsev.

At this Césars ceremony, the Honorary César was handed out to Spanish actress Penélope Cruz, and a novelty this year was the handing out of the first Audience César (serving to acknowledge the French film that racked up the highest number of admissions around the country), which went to Raid Dingue [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Dany Boon. There were also tributes to those who recently left us (in particular Jeanne Moreau and Jean Rochefort), and all of those who took part in the evening’s events wore a white ribbon in support of the #MaintenantOnAgit campaign (the French equivalent of #TimesUp) and the struggle to combat violence against women.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best Film 
BPM (Beats Per Minute) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud Valois
interview: Robin Campillo
film profile] - Robin Campillo

Best Actress 
Jeanne Balibar – Barbara [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]

Best Actor 
Swann Arlaud – Bloody Milk [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hubert Charuel
film profile]

Best Director 
Albert Dupontel – See You up There [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]

Best Original Screenplay
Robin Campillo – BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Best Adaptation
Albert Dupontel and Pierre Lemaître – See You up There

Best Supporting Actress 
Sara Giraudeau – Bloody Milk

Best Supporting Actor 
Antoine Reinartz – BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Most Promising Actress 
Camélia Jordana - Le Brio [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Most Promising Actor 
Nahuel Perez Biscayart – BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Best First Feature Film 
Bloody Milk - Hubert Charuel

Best Documentary 
I Am Not Your Negro [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Raoul Peck (France/USA/Belgium/Switzerland)

Best Animated Feature Film 
Big Bad Fox [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Benjamin Renner and Patrick Imbert

Best Cinematography 
Vincent Mathias – See You up There

Best Editing 
Robin Campillo – BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Best Original Music 
Arnaud Rebotini - BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Best Sound 
Olivier Mauvezin, Nicolas Moreau and Stéphane Thiébaut – Barbara

Best Costume Design 
Mimi Lempicka – See You up There

Best Production Design 
Pierre Quefféléan – See You up There

Best Short Film
Les bigorneaux - Alice Vial

Best Animated Short Film 
Pépé le Morse - Lucrèce Andreae

Best Foreign Film 
Loveless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrey Zvyagintsev
film profile] - Andrey Zvyagintsev (Russia/France/Belgium/Germany)

Honorary César
Penélope Cruz

Audience César
Raid Dingue [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Dany Boon

(Translated from French)