After the announcement of the nominees, four feature films dominated the debates: Intouchables, the box-office phenomenon, The Artist, the tsunami of world cinema, Polisse, the darling of the prognosticators and L’Exercice de l’ État which, despite its eleven nominations, was pointed out as the big outsider of the lot.
The first pleasant surprise of the evening: the impeccable Michel Blanc was awarded the César for Best Supporting Actor very early on, topping the three actors of Polisse who were jointly nominated in this category. Shortly afterwards, Pierre Schoëller took the stage to receive the award for best original screenplay, a distinction that surely goes straight to his heart as he paid so much attention to this phase of the work. The members of the Wallimage/Bruxellimage technical group who were able to read this text and the director’s dazzling note of intent are still amazed thirteen months later.
If Olivier Gourmet was not crowned, beaten by Omar Sy who gave a memorable performance on stage, L’Exercice de l’ État nevertheless won a third César: the one for best sound awarded to Olivier Hespel, Julie Brenta and Jean-Pierre Laforce.
Given the exceptional line-up of this 37th edition, the three trophies won by this magnificent film are a real consecration. Only The Artist and its six awards did better. And this is beautiful!
Another point of pride: The Pig in Gaza, which received the César for best first film, was co-produced by Saga Film, sounded by Philippe Van Leer and mixed by Mathieu Cox at Dame Blanche Genval, one of the companies in the Wallimage/Bruxellimage portfolio.
