The invasion of Ukraine by a Russian military offensive arouses emotion, to the point of touching the family of French cinema gathered for the 47th Cesar ceremony, Friday in Paris.
Chaired by the director and screenwriter Danièle Thompson, the evening was somewhat tinged with the colors of Ukraine.
Read alsoThe 47th Cesar ceremony live: the grace of Cate Blanchett, the raid of
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Antoine de Caunes, master of ceremonies, had however framed everyone from the start.
“The essence of our job is to carry on even if the world is collapsing around us.
Tonight we are thinking of the Ukrainians.
Let's live up to the chance they don't have,”
he explained to the camera.
Before setting an example ironically: the Caesars will be renamed “the Vladimirs” next year.
Once the award ceremony has started, the first allusions to Ukraine come when the
Magnétiques
team is awarded the César for best first film.
To the director Vincent Maël Cardona to thank and to imply:
“We must fully live and celebrate.
[…] We try to bear witness to the abjection and the love that this world evokes in us”.
Later in the evening, actress Emma Mackey (
Sex Education,
Eiffel
or more recently
Death on the Nile
) is in charge of the presentation of the prize for the best foreign film.
A category
"which is close to my heart
, she says,
given recent events, seems to me more vital than ever"
.
The message couldn't be clearer.
10:41 p.m., the César for best editing goes to
Annette
, whose Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard share the bill
.
The film is in its second statuette.
Nelly Quettier brandishes it and devotes the last seconds of her speech to the current conflict:
“Let the war in Ukraine stop as soon as possible”
.
The editor also mentioned La Clef, the last associative cinema in Paris.
Closed since 2018, the establishment is blocked in its approach by activists refusing to release the premises.
Read alsoDiscover the Caesars of Honor and Horror of
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It's up to Cate Blanchett to receive the César d'honneur this year, which Isabelle Huppert hands over to her.
Moved to tears, alternating between English, French and Spanish, the Australian actress comes to her senses and weighs her words.
She says she
"finds it hard to think of anything other than Ukraine."
"It's the cinema that allowed me to keep my head on my shoulders in this strange and trying period"
.
Read alsoCher, Stephen King, Angèle, Joey Starr, Louane… Artists condemn the invasion of Ukraine
On the sidelines of the Caesar ceremony, several figures of the seventh art had spoken about the Ukrainian situation.
Like Pierre Niney, nominated in the category of best actor for
Black Box.
If he did not reveal anything during the ceremony, the former resident of the Comédie française, however, wishes to denounce the circulation of false information on social networks.
On his Twitter account, four photos are shared, all accusing Ukraine of setting fire to a mountain of paper, near the building where the intelligence services are housed.
“
Certified 100% fake news from pro-Russian bots (pay attention to what you see on social networks
” he warns.
The actress Macha Méril is particularly affected by the situation, because of her Russian origins.
“
I think this crisis is going to be the end of Putin.
It's like an abscess that needs to burst.
He took the step too many, the mistake too many, believing that he could resuscitate a dead Soviet Russia.
This guy is crazy
, ”she said in the columns of
Parisian
.
“
He gesticulates but has tripped over the carpet.
He's crazy, really
."
Sandrine Kiberlain, Emmanuelle Béart and Guillaume Canet also shared photos in support of Ukraine.
Gérard Depardieu, who obtained Russian citizenship in 2013, did not react.
In mid-February, the actor had posted on his Instagram account a photo of him kissing President Putin, accompanied by the sentence
“Friendship”
.
It is now deleted.
Abroad, two-time Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem protested outside the Russian embassy in Madrid on Thursday, fearing that these
“belligerent actions”
could trigger a huge refugee crisis.
Sean Penn finds himself closest to the conflict, in Kiev.
The American actor and director met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to shoot a documentary on the invasion launched by Russia.
