05/02/2019 - Jacques Audiard’s film dominates the night, scooping the awards for Best Film and Best Director, while Élodie Bouchez and Alex Lutz also win in their respective categories

There was no big favourite of the night, but it was ultimately a seasoned director that triumphed over the next generation of filmmakers at the 24^th Lumières Awards, which were presented (in a similar fashion to the Golden Globes) to the best artists working in the French and Francophone film industry by foreign journalists stationed in Paris. Jacques Audiard’s western, The Sisters Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile], scooped up the award for Best Film (a trophy he also won in 2006 with The Beat That My Heart Skipped [+see also:
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film profile]) and Best Director (for the third time, after his victories in 2010 with A Prophet [+see also:
film review
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interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard and Tahar R…
film profile] and in 2013 with Rust and Bone [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile]), a double-win that was soon converted into a hat-trick with the Lumières Award for Best Photography, which went to the film’s director of photography, Benoît Debie. It’s worth noting that the film also won the Silver Lion award at Venice Film Festival and was produced by Why Not and Page 114, and co-produced by the Spanish outfits Apache Films and Atresmedia Cine, the Belgian company Films du Fleuve and the Romanian outfit Mobra Films.

The shock of the night came in the Best Actor category, which saw Alex Lutz scoop up the award for Guy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (directed by the actor himself), which was also victorious in the Best Music category (by Vincent Blanchard et Romain Greffe).

Élodie Bouchez’s moving performance in In Safe Hands [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (directed by Jeanne Herry) saw her pick up her second Lumières Award for Best Actress, after winning back in 1999 for The Dreamlife of Angels.

As for the rest of the night, predictions were fairly on the money, with Xavier Legrand’s Custody [+see also:
film review
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interview: Xavier Legrand
film profile] awarded Best First Film, The Trouble With You [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Salvadori
film profile] awarded Best Screenplay (written by Pierre Salvadori, Benoît Graffin and Benjamin Charbit), Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile] by the Belgian director Lukas Dhont awarded Best Francophone Film and Dilili in Paris [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by Michel Ocelot awarded Best Animated Film. The majority-French Production, Samouni Road [+see also:
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interview: Stefano Savona
film profile] by the Italian director Stefano Savona was awarded Best Documentary, while the young stars Ophélie Bau and Félix Maritaud both won awards for Most Promising Performance for Mektoub My Love : Canto Uno [+see also:
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film profile] and Sauvage [+see also:
film review
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interview: Camille Vidal-Naquet
film profile] respectively. The 24^th Lumières Awards Ceremony (which took place at the Institut du Monde Arabe) also paid tribute to Jane Birkin and the A Man and a Woman trio (director Claude Lelouch and his cast Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant).

The Awards:

Best Film
The Sisters Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile] - Jacques Audiard (France/Spain/Romania/the USA/Belgium)

Best Director
Jacques Audiard – The Sisters Brothers

Best Actress
Elodie Bouchez – In Safe Hands [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (France/Belgium)

Best Actor
Alex Lutz – Guy [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Best Screenplay
Pierre Salvadori, Benoît Graffin et Benjamin Charbit – The Trouble With You [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Salvadori
film profile]

Best Photography
Benoît Debie – The Sisters Brothers

Most Promising Actor
Félix Maritaud – Sauvage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Camille Vidal-Naquet
film profile]

Most Promising Actress
Ophélie Bau – Mektoub My Love : Canto Uno [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (France/Italy)

Best First Film
Custody [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Legrand
film profile] - Xavier Legrand

Best Francophone Film
Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile] - Lukas Dhont (Belgium/the Netherlands)

Best Animated Film
Dilili in Paris [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Michel Ocelot (France/Germany/Belgium)

Best Documentary
Samouni Road [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefano Savona
film profile] - Stefano Savona (Italy/France)

Best Music
Vincent Blanchard and Romain Greffe – Guy

(Translated from French)