Illustration photo – The César Film Awards ceremony at the Olympia concert hall in Paris on March 12, 2021.
Paris – Czech director Michaela Pavlátová's co-produced film Moje slunce Mad received the prestigious César award from the French film academy for the best feature-length animated film. The César award for best film went to La Nuit du 12 (Twelfth Night) by director Dominik Moll. The organizers announced this at today's awards ceremony in Paris.
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The film, which was a Czech-French-Slovak co-production, beat in its category, for example, the film Mikulášovy patálie: How it all began by directors Amandine Fredonová and Benjamin Massoubre, who works with popular motifs by cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé. The film The Mouse and the Bear on the Road by Jean-Christophe Roger and Julien Chheng was also in the running for the prize.
In France, Pavlátové's film won the favor of audiences and critics, and had already received the Jury Prize at the Annecy Animated Film Festival.< /p>
The film tells the story of Helena, who begins a new life stage in Kabul alongside her husband Nazir, whom she met at the university in Prague. Under the name Herra, he adjusts to the new lifestyle of Nazir's large Afghan family. However, not everyone in this family has as big a heart as Nazir and as much sense of humor as the progressive grandfather. A sensitive boy named Mad enters her life, and with his help, Herra begins to look for a home in a foreign country. The film was based on the novella Frišta by journalist Petra Procházková.
Director Pavlátová was captivated by the book not only thanks to the ironic comments of a European woman who found herself in the intimacy of a Muslim family, where one would not normally look. Despite the many differences, she found a number of familiar things.
“From the very first chapter, you find yourself in the middle of some terribly interesting, funny family that reminds you in so many ways of your own family, your grandfathers, grandmothers, crazy uncles, relatives, some of whom are nice, some of whom are terrible, but you you have to endure them all. And it was written so funny and immediate and vivid that the fact that it was set in Afghanistan was actually secondary to me,” the director said last year on the podcast Czech press offices.
Pavlátová chose animation on purpose, because it is still possible to tell a multi-layered story, which is not a unique procedure in the world. Co-producers from France also took part in the animation, it was animated in the Alkay studio in Prague and on the island of Réunion. In the international version, the main male role is played by the voice of an Afghan actor named Haji gul Asir, in the Czech language he is portrayed by Hynek Čermák.
The César award for best film went to La Nuit du 12
The French César award for best film went to La Nuit du 12 (Twelfth Night) by director Dominique Moll. This was announced by the organizers at the award ceremony of the French Film Academy. The film won awards in five other categories as well. Czech filmmaker Michaela Pavlátová won the César for best animated feature.
The film directed by Dominik Moll was among the favorites of this year's French film awards. In total, it won six statuettes, including awards for best film, direction or adaptation, and thus became the most awarded film of this year. “This award touches us enormously,” said the director about the award for best film.
La Nuit du 12 tells the story of a failed investigation into the burning of a young girl. However, the main theme of the film, which was partially inspired by a real murder, is the relationship between men and women.
Today's film awards ceremony in Paris was briefly interrupted by an environmental activist wearing a “We have 761 days left” T-shirt days). The organizers had her escorted out by security. “It is impossible for me to watch the world fall into ruin,” said the activist. Iranian-born actress Golšifte Farahani, who has been living in France for many years, recalled and expressed her support for the protests in Iran against the theocratic government. Innocent directed by Louis Garrel. When receiving the award, he recalled the year-long war in Ukraine.
In past years, the awards ceremony faced a decline in viewership. This year, the handover was significantly shorter and ended shortly before midnight.
