The César Award is the national film award of France (considered the highest film honor in France cinema; the equivalent of the Oscars in the USA, which holds its celebration tonight, February 26). The César Award nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Ministry of Culture. The 42nd César Awards ceremony took place 2 nights ago, February 24, 2017, at the Salle Pleyel in Paris.

Jérôme Commandeur hosted the ceremony for the first time.

Of note, given this blog’s interests, the critically acclaimed and much talked-about film at last year’s Cannes film festival, described as one of the best young-adult films to come out of France in recent years, French-Moroccan drama “Divines” picked up 3 trophies (it was nominated in 7 categories): Best Supporting Actress, Déborah Lukumuena; Most Promising Actress, Oulaya Amamra; and Best First Feature Film, Houda Benyamina.

All 3 won in similar categories at the 22nd Lumières Awards ceremony, which is essentially France’s equivalent of the Golden Globes here in the USA, which was held in Paris on January 30.

“Divines” is currently available to stream on Netflix in the USA (and elsewhere); you’re strongly encouraged to check it out!

Here is the full list of César Awards winners.

Best Film:

“Divines” produced by Marc-Benoit Créancier, directed by Houda Benyamina
“Elle” produced by Saïd Ben Saïd, Michel Merkt, directed by Paul Verhoeven
“Frantz” produced by Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer, directed by François Ozon
“Les Innocentes” produced by Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer, directed by Anne Fontaine
“Slack Bay” produced by Jean Bréhat, Rachid Bouchareb, Muriel Merlin, directed by Bruno Dumont
“From The Land of The Moon” produced by Alain Attal, directed by Nicole Garcia
“Victoria” produced by Emmanuel Chaumet, directed by Justine Triet

Best Director:

Houda Benyamina, “Divines”
Paul Verhoeven, “Elle”
François Ozon, “Frantz”
Anne Fontaine, “Les Innocentes”
Xavier Dolan, “It’s Only The End of The World”
Bruno Dumont, “Ma Loute”
Nicole Garcia, “Mal De Pierres”

Best Actress:

Judith Chemla, “Une Vie”
Marion Cotillard, “From The Land of The Moon”
Virginie Efira, “Victoria”
Marina Foïs, “Irréprochable”
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Sidse Babett Knudsen, “La Fille de Brest”
Soko, “La Danseuse”

Best Actor:

François Cluzet, “Médecin de Campagne”
Pierre Deladonchamps, “Le Fils de Jean”
Nicolas Duvauchelle, “Je Ne Suis Pas Un Salaud”
Fabrice Luchini, “Ma Loute”
Pierre Niney, “Frantz”
Omar Sy, “Chocolat”
Gaspard Ulliel, “It’s Only The End of The World”

Female Newcomer:

Oulaya Amamra, “Divines”
Paula Beer, “Frantz”
Lily-Rose Depp, “La Danseuse”
Noémie Merlant, “Le Ciel Attendra”
Raph, “Ma Loute”

Male Newcomer:

Jonas Bloquet, “Elle”
Damien Bonnard, “Rester Vertical”
Corentin Fila, “Being 17”
Kacey Mottet Klein, “Being 17”
Niels Schneider, “Diamant Noir”

Best Supporting Actress:

Nathalie Baye, “Juste La Fin Du Monde”
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, “Ma Loute”
Anne Consigny, “Elle”
Déborah Lukumuena, “Divines”
Mélanie Thierry, “La Danseuse”

Best Supporting Actor:

Gabriel Arcand, “Le Fils de Jean”
Vincent Cassel, “Juste La Fin Du Monde”
Vincent Lacoste, “Victoria”
Laurent Lafitte, “Elle”
Melvil Poupaud, “Victoria”
James Thierrée, “Chocolat”

Best First Film:

“Cigarettes et Chocolat Chaud” directed by Sophie Reine, produced by Isabelle Grellat, Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer
“La Danseuse” directed by Stéphanie Di Giusto, produced by Alain Attal
“Diamant Noir” directed by Arthur Harari, produced by David Thion, Philippe Martin
“Divines” directed by Houda Benyamina, produced by Marc-Benoit Créancier
“Rosalie Blum” directed by Julien Rappeneau, produced by Michael Gentile, Charles Gillibert

Best Cinematography:

Stéphane Fontaine, “Elle”
Pascal Mart, “Frantz”
Caroline Champetier, “Les Innocentes”
Guillaume Deffontaines, “Ma Loute”
Christophe Beaucarne, “Mal De Pierres”

Best Adapted Screenplay:

David Birke, “Elle”
Séverine Bosschem, Emmanuelle Bercot, “La Fille de Brest”
François Ozon, “Frantz”
Céline Sciamma, “Ma Vie de Courgette”
Nicole Garcia, Jacques Fieschi “Mal de Pierres”
Katell Quillévéré, Gilles Taurand, “Réparer Les Vivants”

Best Original Screenplay:

Romain Compingt, Houda Benyamina, Malik Rumeau, “Divines”
Sólveig Anspach, Jean-Luc Gaget, “L’Effet Aquatique”
Sabrina B. Karine, Alice Vial, Pascal Bonitzer, Anne Fontaine, “Les Innocentes”
Bruno Dumont, “Ma Loute”
Justine Triet, “Victoria”

Best Costumes:

Anaïs Romand, “La Danseuse”
Pascaline Chavanne, “Frantz”
Catherine Leterrier, “Mal de Pierres”
Alexandra Charles, “Ma Loute”
Madeline Fontaine, “Une Vie”

Best Production Design:
Jérémie D. Lignol, “Chocolat”
Carlos Conti, “La Danseuse”
Michel Barthélémy, “Frantz”
Riton Dupire-Clément, “Ma Loute”
Katia Wyszkop, “Planetarium”

Best Editing:

Loic Lallemand, Vincent Tricon, “Divines”
Job Ter Burg, “Elle”
Laure Gardette, “Frantz”
Xavier Dolan, “Juste La Fin Du Monde”
Simon Jacquet, “Mal de Pierres”

Best Sound:

Brigitte Taillandier, Vincent Guillon, Stéphane Thiébaut, “Chocolat”
Jean-Paul Mugel, Alexis Place, Cyril Holtz, Damien Lazzerini, “Elle”
Martin Boissau, Benoît Gargonne, Jean-Paul Hurier, “Frantz”
Jean-Pierre Duret, Sylvain Malbrant, Jean-Pierre Laforce, “Mal de Pierres”
Marc Engels, Fred Demolder, Sylvain Réty, Jean-Paul Hurier, “L’Odyssée”

Best Original Music:

Gabriel Yared, “Chocolat”
Ibrahim Maalouf, “Dans Les Forêts De Sibérie”
Anne Dudley, “Elle”
Philippe Rombi, “Frantz”
Sophie Hunger, “Ma Vie de Courgette”

Best Foreign Film:

“Aquarius” directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho
“Graduation” directed by Cristian Mungiu
“The Unknown Girl” directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
“It’s Only the End of the World” directed by Xavier Dolan
“Manchester By The Sea” directed by Kenneth Lonergan
“I, Daniel Blake” directed by Ken Loach
“Toni Erdmann” directed by Maren Ade

Best Animated Film:

“La Jeune Fille Sans Mains” directed by Sébastien Laudenbach, produced by Jean-Christophe Soulageon
“My Life as a Courgette” directed by Claude Barras, produced by Armelle Glorennec, Eric Jacquot, Marc Bonny
“The Red Turtle” directed by Michael Dudok De Wit, produced by Vincent Maraval, Pascal Caucheteux

Best Documentary :

“Dernières Nouvelles Du Cosmos” directed by Julie Bertuccelli, produced by Yaël Fogiel, Laetitia Gonzalez
“Fuocoammare, Par-Delà Lampedusa” directed by Gianfranco Rosi, produced by Serge Lalou, Camille Laemlé
“Merci Patron !” directed by François Ruffin, produced by Édouard Mauriat, Anne-Cécile Berthomeau, Johanna Silva
“Swagger” directed by Olivier Babinet, produced by Marine Dorfmann, Alexandre Perrier
“Voyage À Travers Le Cinéma Français” directed by Bertrand Tavernier, produced by Frédéric Bourboulon