Isabelle Huppert, ‘Elle’ Win France’s Cesar Awards

Xavier Dolan’s “It’s Only the End of the World” wins awards for best director and best actor

elle isabelle huppert
Isabelle Huppert, "Elle" / Sony Pictures Classics

Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” has been named the best French film of 2016 at the Cesar Awards, while Isabelle Huppert also won the Best Actress award for her performance in that film.

Huppert won the award two days before she’ll be up for Best Actress at the Oscars for the same performance, and one day before she’ll be competing at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan won the best-director Cesar for his divisive family drama “It’s Only the End of the World,” and his lead actor Gaspard Ulliel won the best-actor award for the same film.

Recent best-film winners at the Cesar Awards include a few with some visibility in the United States, including the Oscar Best Picture winner “The Artist” and Oscar foreign-language winners “Amour” and “A Prophet,” along with less known films like 2014 winner “Me, Myself and Mum” and last year’s “Fatima.”

“Elle” was France’s entry in the Oscar foreign-language race this year, but it was did not make the nine-film shortlist.

British director Ken Loach‘s working-class drama “I, Daniel Blake,” which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year, was named the year’s best foreign-language film in a category that also included Oscar nominees “Manchester by the Sea” and “Toni Erdmann.”

Supporting actor and actress awards went to James Thierrée for “Chocolat” and Deborah Lukumuena for “Divines.”

The Oscar-nominated animated film “My Life as a Zucchini” won two Cesars, one for its adapted screenplay and one as best animated film.

Maïmouna Doucouré’s “Maman(s),” one of the finalists in TheWrap’s ShortList Film Festival, won the Cesar for live action short, which in a tie also went to Alice Diop’s “Vers la Tendresse.”

The Cesar Awards show took place at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. George Clooney received an honorary Cesar.

The winners:

Best Film: “Elle”

Best Director: Xavier Dolan for “It’s Only the End of the World”

Best Actress: Isabelle Huppert for “Elle”

Best Actor: Gaspard Ulliel for “It’s Only the End of the World”

Best Supporting Actress: Deborah Lukumuena for “Divines”

Best Supporting Actor: James Thierree for “Chocolat”

Best New Actress: Oulaya Amamra for “Divines”

Best New Actor: Niels Schneider for “Dark Inclusion”

Best Foreign Film: “I, Daniel Blake” by Ken Loach (United Kingdom)

Best Original Screenplay: Solveig Anspach, Jean-Luc Gaget for “The Aquatic Effect”

Best Adapted Screenplay: Celine Sciamma for “My Life as a Zucchini”

Best Documentary Film: “Thanks Boss!” by Francois Ruffin

Best First Film: “Divines” by Houda Benyamina

Best Original Score: Ibrahim Maalouf for “In the Forests of Siberia”

Best Sound: Marc Engles, Fred Demolder, Sylvain Rety, Jean-Paul Hurier for “The Odyssey”

Best Editing: Xavier Dolan for “It’s Only the End of the World”

Best Cinematography: Pascal Marti for “Frantz”

Best Costumes: Anaïs Romand for “The Dancer”

Best Production Design: Jérémie D. Lignol for “Chocolat”

Best Animated Film: “My Life as a Zucchini” by Claude Barras

Best Animated Short Film: “Celui Qui a Deux Ames” by Fabrice Luang-Vija

Best Short Film: (TIE) “Maman(s)” by Maïmouna Doucouré and “Vers la Tendresse” by Alice Diop

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