Albert Dupontel’s dark comedy was the biggest winner of the French Cesars, with 7 trophies, including the best director.
Albert Dupontel’s dark comedy Bye Bye Morons was the big winner at the 2021 César Awards, France’s best film honor, held on Friday night.
Bye Bye Morons won 7 Césars, including best film and best director. Dupontel also won the best original screenplay for his screenplay. The film also fetches the best supporting actor César for Nicolas Marié, the best production design for Carlos Conti, and best film for Alexis Kavyrchine. Bye Bye Morons also won the César des lycéens, an award for people’s choice, on which French high school students voted. The film follows a seriously ill woman who tries to find her long-lost child with the help of a blind archivist and man in the midst of a burnout.
French-Tunisian star Sami Bouajil won Best Actor César for his performance in Mehdi Barsaoui’s N son as a man whose son was shot dead by terrorists.
France’s Oscar contender, Two of us, who made the Academy Award shortlist for best international feature film this year, won the César for Best First Film by debut director Filippo Meneghetti. But the two main characters of the film, Martine Chevallier and Barbara Sukowa, who were both nominated in the category of best actress as women who have been in secret for decades, have lost Laure Calamy for her performance in Caroline Vignal’s comedy romances My donkey, my lover and me.
Thomas Vinterberg’s Danish Dramedy Another round, a favorite for best international film Oscar this year, won the César for best foreign film.
The 46th César Awards, the best honor in France, kicked off with French actress Marina Fois on Friday night (Police) and actor Roschdy Zem (The cold light of day) the presentation of the event in front of a small, masked audience in Paris.
The first award of the evening, for best female newcomer, went to Fathia Youssouf for her debut performance in Maïmouna Doucouré’s Sweethearts, the Netflix movie that became a case after being targeted by online trolls. The 14-year-old Youssouf received her trophy from French theater legend Isabelle Huppert.
Jean-Pascal Zadi honored the best male newcomer for Tout Simplement Noir, a satire on race relations in France, in which he plays, and which Zadi directs with John Wax.
Emilie Dequenne won the best supporting actress César for her role in Emmanuel Mouret Love Affair (s) (The things we say, the things we do), who was the forerunner of César who won the award this year, with 13 nominations. The film, which features an ensemble cast and consists of a series of romantic stories, was part of the official selection of Cannes 2020.
Stéphanie Demoustier has the best adapted screenplay for The girl with a bracelet, his adaptation of the Argentine film The accused.
Madeline Fontaine took the best costume design for the comedy How to be a good wife by director Martin Provost.
Josep, directed by French cartoonist Aurel, won for best animated film. The 2D feature tells the largely unknown story of Spanish illustrator Josep Bartolí.
The French electronic music artist Rone achieved the best score for his work on Nagrit by director Frédéric Farrucci.
The best documentary Cesar gone to Adolescents of director Sébastien Lifshitz, who follows the relationship between two girls, best friends from a young age, in a few years. The film also won for Best Editing, for Tina Baz, and Best Sound Design for Yolande Decarsin, Jeanne Deplancq, Fanny Martin and Olivier Goinard.
Les Misérables, Ladj Ly’s look at life in the Paris suburbs, won the César for best film during last year’s event, which knocked out all actors, including Roman Polanski An officer and a spy. But the French film academy ignored a street full of protesters and an angry army of online critics to give Polanski the honor that year.
A scandal of a different kind, regarding the business model and corporate leadership of the award, led to an uprising in the industry last year that led to the resignation of César Academy president Alain Terzian along with the rest of the 21-member governors.
This year’s ceremony is the first Césars since the renovation. One of the greatest achievements of the new management was to bring about gender equality within the board of directors of the Association for the Promotion of Cinema (APC), the organization that oversees the Cesar Academy.
Complete list of Cesar 2021 winners in the main categories:
BEST MOVIE
Bye Bye Morons, directed by Albert Dupontel
BEST DIRECTOR
Albert Dupontel, Bye Bye Morons
BEST ACTRESS
Laure Calamy, My donkey, my lover and me
BEST ACTOR
Sami Bouajila, N son
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Another round, directed by Thomas Vinterberg
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emilie Dequenne, Love Affair (s) (The things we say, the things we do)
BEST Supporting Actor
Nicolas Mairé, Bye Bye Morons
BEST FEMALE NEWS
Fathia Youssouf, Sweethearts
BEST MALE
Jean-Pascal Zadi, Tout Simplement Noir
BEST ORIGINAL SCREEN PLAN
Albert Dupontel, Bye Bye Morons
BEST CUSTOM SCREENPLAY
Stéphanie Demoustier, The girl with a bracelet
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Alexis Kavyrchine, Bye Bye Morons
BEST EDITING
Tina Baz, Adolescents
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Madeline Fontaine, How to be a good wife
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Yolande Decarsin, Jeanne Deplancq, Fanny Martin and Olivier Goinard for Adolescents
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Carlos Conti, Bye Bye Morons
BEST animated feature
Josep, directed by Aurel
BEST DOCUMENTS
Adolescents, directed by Sébastien Lifshitz
BEST FIRST MOVIE
Two of us, directed by Filippo Meneghetti
BEST SCORE
Rone, Nagrit