Audrey Diwan

Source: Lumière Awards

Audrey Diwan

Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening won best film at the 27th edition of France’s Lumière Awards on Monday evening, while its star Anamaria Vartolomei was awarded the best actress prize. 

Adapted from French writer Annie Ernaux’s 2019 semi-autobiographical work, Happening recounts a gifted literature student’s struggle to get an abortion in 1964, 11 years before abortion was legalised in France in 1975.

It marks a first lead role for Vartolomei, whose previous credits include How To Be A Good Wife and The Royal Exchange. Vartolomei is also one of European Film Promotion’s 10 European Shooting Stars for 2022.

The Lumière awards were voted on by 95 international correspondents hailing from 36 countries this year.

In other prizes, Leos Carax won best director for musical Annette. The film also won best soundtrack for Ron and Russell Mael of pop outfit Sparks; and best cinematography for Caroline Champetier.

Xavier Giannoli’s literary adapation Lost Illusions, which drummed up the highest number of nominations in the first round of voting, won best screenplay.

Best first film went to Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh’s Gagarine, about a teenager who embarks on a mission to save the Paris apartment block he has called home all his life when it is marked for demolition. 

Best international co-production went to Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person In The World, which is also on the shortlist for the best international film category of the Oscars this year, and the longlist for the Baftas in the same category. 

In other acting prizes, Benoît Magimel won best actor for his performance in Emmanuelle Bercot’s Peaceful as a man living in denial of his terminal illness, opposite Catherine Deneuve as his mother.

Agathe Rouselle won best new actress for her performance as a psychopathic serial killer in Julia Ducournau’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane; and Thimotée Robart won best new actor for his role in Vincent Maël Cardona in Magnetic Beats, set against the backdrop of France’s 1980s pirate radio scene.

In other categories, best feature animation went to Patrick Imbert’s The Summit Of The Gods, about a Japanese reporter who scales Everest to solve the mystery around the disappearance of UK mountaineer George Mallory and fellow climber Andrew Irvine during their 1924 expedition. The Velvet Queen won best feature documentary.

Lumières 2022 nominations and winners

Winners in bold

Best film

  • Annette, dir. Leos Carax
  • Peaceful, dir. Emmanuelle Bercot
  • Happening, dir. Audrey Diwan
  • Lost Illusions, dir. Xavier Giannoli
  • Onoda, 10,000 Nights In The Jungle, dir. Arthur Harari

Best director

  • Jacques Audiard, Paris, 13th District
  • Leos Carax, Annette
  • Audrey Diwan, Happening
  • Xavier Giannoli, Lost Illusions
  • Authur Harari, Onoda, 10,000 Nights In The Jungle

Best screenplay

  • Antoine Barraud, Madeleine Collins
  • Leyla Bouzid, A Story Of Love And Desire
  • Catherine Corsini, The Divide
  • Xavier Giannoli, Lost Ilusions
  • Arthur Harari, Vincent Poymiro, Onoda, 10,000 Nights In The Jungle

Best actress

  • Suliane Brahim, The Swarm
  • Virginie Efira, Benedetta
  • Valérie Lemercier, Aline
  • Sophie Marceau, Everything Went Fine
  • Anamaria Vartolomei, Happening

Best actor

  • Damien Bonnard, The Restless
  • André Dussollier, Everything Went Fine
  • Vincent Lindon, Titane
  • Benoît Magimel, Peaceful
  • Benjamin Voisin, Lost Ilusions

Best new actress

  • Zbeida Belhajamor, A Story Of Love And Desire
  • Aïssatou Diallo Sagna, The Divide
  • Daphné Patakia, Benedetta
  • Agathe Rousselle, Titane
  • Lucie Zhang, Paris, 13th District

Best new actor

  • Alseni Bathily, Gagarine
  • Abdel Bendaher, Ibrahim
  • Sami Outalbali, A Story Of Love And Desire
  • Thimotée Robart, Magnetic Beats
  • Makita Samba, Paris, 13th District

Best first film

  • Gagarine, dirs. Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh
  • Ibrahim, dir. Samir Guesmi
  • Magnetic Beats, dir. Vincent Maël Cardona
  • The Swarm, dir. Just Philippot
  • Skies Of Lebanon, dir. Chloé Mazlo

Best documentary

  • Nine Days In Raqqa, dir. Xavier de Lauzanne
  • Delphine And Carole, dir. Callisto Mc Nulty
  • Gallent Indies, dir. Philippe Béziat
  • Le Kiosque, dir. Alexandra Pianelli
  • The Velvet Queen, dirs. Marie Amiguet, Vincent Munier

Best animation film

  • Pil’s Adventures, dir. Julien Fournet
  • Princess Dragon, dirs. Anthony Roux, Jean-Jacques Denis
  • The Summit Of The Gods, dir. Patrick Imbert
  • The Crossing, dir. Florence Miailhe
  • Around The World In 80 Days, dir. Samuel Tourneux

Best international co-production

  • February, dir. Kamen Kalev
  • Petrov’s Flu, dir. Kirill Serebrennikov
  • The Worst Person In The World, dir. Joachim Trier
  • The Father, dir. Florian Zeller

Best cinematography

  • Christophe Beaucarne, Lost Illusions
  • Romain Carcanade, The Swarm
  • Caroline Champetier, Annette
  • Tom Harari, Onoda, 10,000 Nights In The Jungle
  • Laurent Tangy, Happening

Best soundtrack

  • Amine Bouhafa, The Summit Of The Gods
  • Warren Ellis, Nick Cave, The Velvet Queen
  • Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine, Amine Bouhafa, Gagarine
  • Ron Mael, Russell Mael, Sparks, Annette
  • Jim Williams, Titane

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