The film Simple like Sylvain by Quebec director Monia Chokri won the César for best foreign film on Friday in Paris, during the ceremony which rewards the best productions of French cinema.
The filmmaker has styled big names in world cinema, including Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Wim Wenders (Perfect Days) and Aki Kaurismaki (Dead leaves). The Italian Marco Bellocchio was also in the running for his film Pick up.
Visibly surprised, the Quebecer began her speech by apologizing in English to Christopher Nolan, who earlier during the ceremony had received an honorary César for his exceptional contribution to the film industry from actress Marion Cotillard.
“I’m so sorry Mr. Nolan, I really didn’t expect that,” he said mockingly, which made the room laugh and made the British-American filmmaker, a subscriber to the prestigious awards.
“Thank you to the members of the academy for voting for this little Quebec film made with so much love. Thank you to the French public for going to see it and thank you to the Cannes Festival for highlighting the film,” continued the 41-year-old director, who was notably accompanied at the ceremony by her actors Magalie Lépine-Blondeau and Pierre -Yves Cardinal.
After highlighting the talent of technicians and actors, Monia Chokri concluded her brief speech with these words: “I can say today that the life I have is bigger than the one I dreamed of. »
Presented at the last Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard category, Simple like Sylvain attracted a generous seven-minute ovation. It also received critical acclaim during its run at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Chokri’s third feature film, after My brother’s wife And Baby sitterfeatures an unexpected romance between two lovers separated by everything, a philosophy professor (Magalie Lépine-Blondeau) and an entrepreneur from the Laurentians (Pierre-Yves Cardinal).
Monia Chokri is the second Quebecer to receive such an honor, after Xavier Dolan for Mommy in 2015. The latter was also awarded in the Best Director category in 2017 for Just the end of the world.
Denys Arcand won the Césars for best film and best direction in 2004 for Barbarian invasions.
Success in France
Co-produced with France, Simple like Sylvain was released on 150 screens in France last fall. The film was well received by the French press, particularly by InrockuptiblesTHE Figaro, THE World and the Parisian.
It attracted nearly 276,000 spectators in theaters according to the compilation of the specialist site Allo ciné.
At home, the film produced by Sylvain Corbeil and Nancy Grant also did well, with box office receipts exceeding a million dollars.
Another artisan of Quebec cinema was in the running for a César: Nicolas Bolduc, nominated in the best photo category for his work on the diptych The three Musketeers : D’Artagnan And Milady. The prize, however, went to David Cailley for The animal kingdom.