César Awards: ‘The Ties That Bind Us’ Wins Best Film; Richard Linklater Becomes Second American-born Filmmaker to Win Best Director

Carine Tardieu’s family drama The Ties That Bind Us (L’Attachement) has won Best Film at the French César Awards at its annual ceremony in Paris on Thursday, also picking up wins for best adapted screenplay and supporting actress for Vimala Pons.

American filmmaker Richard Linklater won Best Director for Nouvelle Vague, the second American-born filmmaker to earn the French honor (after Joseph Losey with 1976’s Monsieur Klein). Linklater’s behind the scenes story of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless and the birth of the French New Wave was the nominations leader with 10, also winning Best Editing, Costumes and Cinematography.

The Oscar-nominated Arco, Ugo Bienvenu’s poetic animated feature produced by Natalie Portman, won best animated feature; Francois Ozon‘s adaptation of Albert Camus’ The Stranger, won best supporting actor for Pierre Lottin; and Pauline Loquès’ Nino won best first film and male newcomer for Théodore Pellerin.

Léa Drucker, won best actress for Case 137, besting the likes of Isabelle Huppert and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another won Best International Film, beating nominees The Secret Agent, Black Dog, Sirāt and Sentimental Value, and is the first Best Picture Oscar nominee to win since 2014’s Birdman, which triumphed at the Oscars.

Jim Carrey received this year’s honorary Cesar award and delivered a entirely in French, after being introduced by Michel Gondry, his Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director of the 2004 film.

“As an actor, each character you play is like clay in the sculptor’s hands, which you shape to your heart’s desire. How fortunate I have been to share this art with so many people who have truly opened their hearts to me,” Carrey said, continuing “about 300 years ago, (his) great, great, great, great, great, great-grandfather, Marc-François Carré, yes, Carré, was born in France, in Saint-Malo” and emigrated to Canada. “Tonight with this magnificent honor, this square (carré in French) has come full circle.”

French actor Benjamin Lavernhe was the ceremony’s host while Camille Cotton presided over the show.

Here is the complete list of winners.

Best Film
The Ties That Bind Us by Carine Tardieu

Best Director
Richard Linklater for Nouvelle Vague

Best Actor
Laurent Lafitte, The Richest Woman in the World

Best Actress
Léa Drucker, Case 137

Best Original Screenplay
Franck Dubosc, Sarah Kaminsky, How To Make A Killing

Best Screenplay Adaptation
Carine Tardieu, Raphaële Moussafir, Agnès Feuvre for The Ties That Bind

Best Supporting Actress
Vimala Pons, The Ties That Bind Us

Best Supporting Actor
Pierre Lottin, The Stranger

Best Female Newcomer
Nadia Melliti, The Little Sister

Best Male Newcomer
Théodore Pellerin, Nino

Best First Film
Nino, directed by Pauline Loqués

Best International Film
One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Best Documentary
Whispers in the Woods, directed by Vincent Munier

Best Animated Feature
Arco by Ugo Bienvenu

Best Cinematography
David Chambille for Nouvelle Vague

Best Original Music
Arnaud Toulon, Arco

Best Editing
Catherine Schwartz, Nouvelle Vague

Best Sound
Romain Cadilhac, Marc Namblard, Olivier Touche, Olivier Goinard for Whispers in the Wood

Best Costumes
Pascaline Chavanne for Nouvelle Vague

Best Production Design
Catherine Cosme for The Great Arch

Best Special Effects
Lise Fischer for The Great Arch

Best Live Action Short Film
Mort d’un Acteur directed by Ambroise Rateau

Best Animated Short Film
Fille de l’eau by Sandra Desmazières

Best Short Documentary
Au bain des dames by Margaux Fournier

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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