César Awards 2016: The Results
France’s version of the Oscars, the Césars, was held in Paris tonight, February 26th 2016. The Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma presented 22 awards in total.
Australian Warren Ellis was the only native English speaker to be awarded at the ceremony for his work on the music of Mustang, a film made by Deniz Gamze Ergüven, a Turkish immigrant to France, about the forced marriages of five orphan girls.
Also France’s official entry into the Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars, Mustang was the joint most celebrated movie at the awards with its four wins only matched by the four accumulated by Marguerite, a movie about an elderly woman whose entire life has been dedicated to singing despite how she isn’t very good at it [trailer available here].
Despite accumulating less awards overall (three), Fatima, the story of an immigrant to France attempting to raise a young family despite poor language skills and prospects, was the winner of the Best Film award, indicating France’s unified artistic resistance to growing tensions towards immigrants in the country following the Paris attacks of late last year.
Best Film: Fatima
Best Director: Arnaud Desplechin (My Golden Days)
Best Actor: Vincent Lindon (La Loi Du Marché)
Best Actress: Catherine Frot (Marguerite)
Best Foreign Film: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Best Original Screenplay: Deniz Gamze Ergüven; Alice Winocour (Mustang)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Philippe Faucon (Fatima)
Best Supporting Actor: Benoit Magimel (La Tête Haute)
Best Supporting Actress: Sidse Babett Knudsen (L’Hermine)
Best First Film: Mustang (dir: Deniz Gamze Erguven)
Best Documentary: Tomorrow
Best Animated Film: Le Petit Prince
Best Animated Short: Le Repas Dominical
Best Original Music: Warren Ellis (Mustang)
Best Set Decoration: Martin Kurel (Marguerite)
Best Editing: Mathilde Van De Moortel (Mustang)
Best Cinematography: Christophe Offenstein (Valley of Love)
Best Sound: François Musy; Gabriel Hafner (Marguerite)
Best Costumes: Pierre-Jean Larroque (Marguerite)
Best Male Newcomer: Rod Paradot (La Tête Haute)
Best Female Newcomer: Zita Hanrot (Fatima)
Here is the trailer (in French) for Best Film winner Fatima:
