“I dedicate this Caesar to all women, to those who succeed and those who fail, to those who have been hurt and who free themselves by speaking and to those who do not succeed,” declared with much of emotion Justine Triet, awarded the César for best film for
Anatomy of a Fall
.
The feature film is the big winner of this 49th ceremony, which was held this Friday, February 23 at the Olympia.
Sandra Hüller, its main actress, also received the César for best actress.
Like her sisters, she also gave a strong speech, imbued with sorority.
Because women took the lion's share in this new edition, which highlighted the talents of French cinema.
Among them, Adèle Exarchopoulos, best supporting actress, Ella Rumpf, female revelation, Monia Chokri for best foreign film, Agnès Jaoui and her honorary César.
Without forgetting Judith Godrèche, whose speech on sexist and sexual violence shook the entire assembly.
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The red carpet of the 49th Cesar ceremony
In images, in pictures
See the slideshow36 photos
See the slideshow36 photos
Also read “Two disgusting hands on my 15-year-old breasts”: Judith Godrèche’s powerful speech blows away the 2024 Césars
“
You have to be wary of little girls”
The ceremony took place in a particular context, largely marked by a second Me Too wave.
Last February, actress Judith Godrèche filed a complaint against her former partner, director Benoît Jacquot, for rape of a minor.
After thirty years of silence, the 51-year-old actress denounced the controlling relationship experienced when she was only 15 years old, and he was 40. She was thus called upon to deliver a powerful speech against the violence in the middle.
“Why accept that this art that we love so much, which binds us, is used as a cover for illicit trafficking in young girls?”, she stormed, before adding: “For some time, I have been speaking but I don't hear you.
Where are you, what do you say?
A whisper, half a word, that would be enough.
I know it's scary, I'm scared too.
I left school at 15, I don't have the baccalaureate, nothing.
It would be complicated to be blacklisted from everything.”
The one who also accused the director Jacques Doillon of sexual violence ended her speech thus: “You have to be wary of little girls, they touch the bottom of the pool, they bump into each other, they get hurt, but they bounce back.”
5 actresses filmed by 5 directors
Others, again, were honored, all categories combined.
Great artists and young lights, including director Mathilde Bédouet who, for example, received the César for best animated short film for
Summer 96
.
Filmmakers Audrey Diwan and Valérie Donzelli won best adaptation for
Love and the Forests
.
“We wanted the heroine to be alive, to be a promise towards the light because cinema can repair,” they declared.
It's also impossible to ignore the César for best actress, awarded this year by Juliette Binoche.
“Tonight, 5 actresses filmed by 5 directors are nominated.
Never seen before,” she enthused.
Not surprisingly, Sandra Hüller was awarded the trophy for her role in
Anatomy of a Fall
.
The 45-year-old German was named alongside Marion Cotillard, Virginie Efira and Léa Drucker.
The male gender also had its share of rewards.
Among the rewarded actors and directors, Raphaël Quenard gave a funny speech, which provoked laughter and emotion.
The actor, who walked away with the César for male revelation in Junkyard
Dog
, had a thought for all the farmers, without whom we could not “eat good fruits, good vegetables and good cereals”.
The actor Arieh Worthalter was crowned best actor for his immense performance in
The Goldman Trial
, while the American Christopher Nolan, director of
Oppenheimer
, received his honorary César from the hands of Marion Cotillard.
Imagine...
like John Lennon
Finally, the specter of deaths in Gaza also hung in the atmosphere.
Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani delivered a moving speech, which she concluded by humming the lyrics of John Lennon's song
Imagine
.
“We are all strangers to someone, something.
But outside, Europe, the world, the Middle East are hurting.
They want us to believe that we are enemies, but does it really take a catastrophe to remind us that we are one?
Beyond our nationality, our opinions, our sex, our gender... Fortunately, art brings us together.
Let us finally dream of sisterhood and equality for all,” she proclaimed.
Words which quite well sum up the heart of this evening marked by emotion, creation and the collective.