‘Anatomy Of A Fall’ wins big at France’s Cesar Awards as Judith Godrèche makes impassioned #MeToo speech

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Anatomy of a Fall

Source: Neon

‘Anatomy of a Fall’

Anatomy Of A Fall was named best French film of the year at the 49^th annual César awards, among six prizes for Justine Triet’s film during an evening dominated by female solidarity that saw actress Judith Godrèche set the tone with a #MeToo-motivated speech.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Anatomy Of A Fall also earned prizes for best director for Triet, best actress for Sandra Hüller, best original screenplay for Triet and Arthur Harari, best supporting actor for Swann Arlaud and best editing for Laurent Senechal.

Triet’s best director prize made her the first female filmmaker to win the category since Tonie Marshall for Venus Beauty Institute in 2000. Triet was one of three women nominated in the category alongside Jeanne Herry for All Your Faces and Catherine Breillat for Last Summer – the most in Cesar history.

“Being the second woman in the history of the Césars to win this award in 49 years is significant,” said Triet. “It’s a bit scary and great at the same time. It gives hope for the future.”

Triet dedicated her best film award to “all women… those who succeed and those who fail, those who have been hurt and who free themselves by speaking out, and those who can’t.”

In the best actress category, all five nominees were selected for performances in films directed by women – a Cesar first. Huller, who is also Oscar-nominated for her role, accepted the award in perfect French, saying: “Thank you to this country for taking me into your arms. Justine, I can no longer imagine life without you.”

Anatomy Of A Fall, produced by Marie-Ange Luciani at Les Films de Pierre and David Thion at Les Films Pelleas, is distributed by Le Pacte in France and sold by mk2 Films.

Highlights

Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom also had a strong night at France’s leading film awards, taking home five awards for best score, costumes, cinematography, sound and special effects. The supernatural father-son drama first premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.

The prize for best adapted screenplay went to Valerie Donzelli and Audrey Diwan for Just The Two Of Us, while best actor went to Arieh Worthalther for his role in Cedric Kahn’s The Goldman Case which opened Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight last May.

Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan and French actress/filmmaker Agnès Jaoui received honourary César awards. Marion Cotillard presented Nolan with his award, who spoke about his strong ties to France.

“My first film Following found its first audience here in Paris.” He added that when he followed with Memento, “no one in the world wanted to show it. UGC showed it at le Grand Rex and its success there changed my life. Ever since, my appreciation of French audiences and exhibitors and the love of cinema that you all have has never diminished.”

Sorority steals the spotlight

Female empowerment dominated the ceremony, led by actress Judith Godrèche, who took to the stage to make a speech about the prevalence of sexual assault in the film industry. Godrèche, who has been leading the charge of a galvanised #metoo movement in France in recent weeks, received a standing ovation before and after her speech in which she addressed the room full of film industry professionals and an estimated 3 million viewers watching on broadcaster Canal+.

“For some time now I’ve been talking and talking, but I don’t hear you, or I hardly heard you. Where are you? What are you saying? A whisper, half a word, even that would be enough,” she said, adding: “I know it’s scary to lose subsidies, to lose roles, to lose jobs. I’m scared too.”

Later in the evening Audrey Diwan referenced Godrèche’s bravery for speaking up while presenting the original screenplay award: “We’re all in agreement, right? No one supports sexism and sexual violence in this room, right?”

Godrèche has made waves after officially pressing charges against filmmakers Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon for sexual assault when she was underage, after a fictionalised account of her relationship with Jacquot when she was 14 and he was 40 came to light in her Arte-A24 series Icon Of French Cinema in December.

Since then, other actresses including Islid Le Besco, Vahina Giocante, Julia Roy and Anna Mouglalis have come forward with similar allegations against the filmmakers, both of whom continue to deny wrongdoing. The testimonials and industry reaction have been making headlines across French media and sparking conversation throughout the French industry.

Ahead of the ceremony, French gender equality group the Collectif 50/50 and artists’ rights organisation CGT Spectacle called for a staged protest in front of at L’Olympia, with a small group of protestors lining up near the ceremony’s venue armed with the battlecry “Violence, silence, that’s enough!”

Despite the #Metoo-fuelled and politically-charged acceptance speeches throughout the evening, the ceremony’s president actress-director Valerie Lemercier and diverse group of entertainers sharing hosting duties for the event kept the mood light and celebratory.

Cesar Awards 2024 Winners

Winners in bold

Best film

Anatomy Of A Fall, dir. Justine Triet
Junkyard Dog, dir. Jean-Baptiste Durand
All Your Faces, dir. Jeanne Herry
The Goldman Case, dir. Cédric Kahn
The Animal Kingdom, dir. Thomas Cailley

Best directing

Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall
Catherine Breillat for Last Summer
Jeanne Herry for All Your Faces
Cédric Kahn for The Goldman Case
Thomas Caillet for The Animal Kingdom

Best actress

Marion Cotillard in Little Girl Blue
Léa Drucker in Last Summer
Virginie Efira in Just The Two of Us
Hafsia Herzi in The Rapture
Sandra Hüller in Anatomy of a Fall

Best actor

Romain Duris in The Animal Kingdom
Benjamin Lavernhe in L’Abbé Pierre: A Century of Devotion
Melvil Poupaud in Just The Two of Us
Raphaël Quenard in Yannick
Arieh Worthalter in The Goldman Case

Best supporting actress

Leila Bekhti in All Your Faces
Galatea Bellugi in Junkyard Dogs
Elodie Bouchez in All Your Faces
Adèle Exarchopoulos in All Your Faces
Miou Miou in All Your Faces

Best supporting actor

Swann Arlaud in Anatomy of a Fall
Anthony Bajon in Junkyard Dogs
Arthur Harari in The Goldman Case
Pio Marmaï in Yannick
Antoine Reinartz in Anatomy of a Fall

Most promising actress

Céleste Brunnquell in No Love Lost
Kim Higelin in Consent
Suzanne Jouannet in The Path of Excellence
Rebecca Marder in Grand Expectations
Ella Rumpf in Marguerite’s Theorem

Most promising actor

Julien Frison in Marguerite’s Theorem
Paul Kircher in The Animal Kingdom
Samuel Kircher in Last Summer
Milo Machado-Graner in Anatomy of a Fall
Raphaël Quenard in Junkyard Dogs

Best original screenplay

Justine Triet, Arthur Harari for Anatomy of a Fall
Jean-Baptiste Durand for Junkyard Dogs
Jeanne Herry for All Your Faces
Nathalie Hertzberg, Cédric Kahn for The Goldman Case
Thomas Cailley, Pauline Munier for The Animal Kingdom

Best adapted screenplay

Valérie Donzelli, Audrey Diwan for Just The Two of Us
Vanessa Filho for Consent
Catherine Breillat for Last Summer

Best score

Gabriel Yared for Just The Two of Us
Delphine Malausséna for Junkyard Dogs
Vitalic for Disco Boy
Andrea Laszlo de Simone for The Animal Kingdom
Guillaume Roussel for The Three Musketeers (part 1 : D’Artagnan/part 2 : Milady)

Best special effects

Thomas Duval for Acid
Lise Fischer, Cédric Fayolle for The Mountain
Cyrille Bonjean, Bruno Sommier, Jean-Louis Autret for The Animal Kingdom
Olivier Cauwet for The Three Musketeers (Part 1 and 2)

Best sound

Julien Sicart, Fanny Martin, Jeanne Delplancq, Olivier Goinard for Anatomy of a Fall
Rémi Daru, Guadalupe Cassius, Loic Prian, Marc Doisne for All Your Faces
Erwan Kerzanet, Sylvain Malbrant, Olivier Guillaume for The Goldman Case
Fabrice Osinski, Raphaël Sohier, Matthieu Fichet, Niels Barletta for The Animal Kingdom

Best editing