Belgians among the winners at César Awards

04/03/2019

The César Awards, the French national film prizes, were presented on 22 February in Paris, with Belgium seeing good representation among the winners. Our fellow countrymen received prizes in no less than three categories. ‘Ni juge, ni soumise (So Help Me God)' from Jean Libon and Yves Hinant received the prize for Best Documentary, while Benoît Debie took home the prize for Best Photography and Rémi Allier was awarded Best Short Film.

‘Ni juge, ni soumise’, the documentary from Jean Libon and Yves Hinant on the investigating judge Anne Gruwez, won the prize for Best Documentary. Without interviews, commentary or any added music, the film sets out what happens both in her office and outside it. The documentary had also won other awards at the Magritte Awards, Belgium's French-language film prizes. Anne Gruwez came to collect the César in person.

The cinematographer Benoît Debie, from Liège, won the photography prize for his work on the film ‘Les Frères Sisters (The Sisters Brothers)’ from Jacques Audiard. This was the first time that Debie had been nominated for a César. The prize for Best Short Film went to Rémi Allier for his film ‘Les petites mains (Little Hands)’, in which he tells the story of a violent uprising in a factory as seen through the eyes of a two-year-old child. Allier's intention with this film is to show that violent acts serve no purpose. "When violence and fury come to the surface, this always arises from a particular source. I think it's important to find that source, instead of responding to violence with more violence,” said the director.