Cesar Awards: 'Custody' Wins Best Film
Robert Redford served as the guest of honor, while Diane Kruger led a tribute to late Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld.

France's Cesar Awards on Friday crowned Custody the best film of the year. Filled with long speeches and no commercial breaks, the ceremony clocked in at three hours and 10 minutes, with Robert Redford as the guest of honor and Diane Kruger leading a tribute to late Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld.
In accepting his honor, Redford recalled his teen travels to Paris and Cannes, joking that he bought a beret before his trip to blend in, but it made him stand out. He said that returning reminds him of how as he gets older, the years seem to get shorter. It was a touching speech, even if the audience might have expected some political words from the normally outspoken Sundance founder.
Redford, who has said he has retired from acting after declaring The Old Man and the Gun his last film, fleetingly told press the world needs to fight climate change but shied away from questions backstage at Paris' Salle Pleyel.
His Horse Whisperer co-star Kristin Scott Thomas presided over the ceremony, with Monica Bellucci, Guillaume Canet and Lily Rose Depp among those in the audience.
Kruger, a longtime friend and fan of Lagerfeld, paid tribute to the designer, who died Wednesday. "It's impossible to imagine climbing the steps in Cannes or an Oscar ceremony without one of his mythical creations," the actress said, calling him an icon. "His sense of humor and worldview, often hilarious, will be missed. I miss him, I miss him terribly."
Xavier Legrand's domestic-violence drama Custody was, if not a total surprise, an unexpected winner for best film. The pic had been nominated for 10 awards and had already won three in the best editing, screenplay and actress categories, but the Oscar-nominated director had been tipped for best first film honors, having won the Louis Delluc prize in that category in December.
Legrand urged the audience to pay heed to incidents of domestic violence, citing some somber statistics from the stage. "I think it's time to think of these victims on days other than Nov. 25 [International Women's Day] ," he said.
Prize winners for the films Little Tickles and Wicked Girl, who took home best adapted screenplay and best animated short honors, respectively, also called attention to the frequency of child sexual abuse in their acceptance speeches.
Gilles Lellouche's mid-life crisis comedy Sink or Swim was also nominated for 10 prizes, but despite being a box office hit, it only received one trophy, the best supporting actor prize for Philippe Katerine.
Jacques Audiard could be considered the biggest winner of the night, with The Sisters Brothers taking home four awards. That the English-language Western had nine nominations was already a coup, and Audiard snagged the best director prize as well.
Hirokazu Kore-eda's Palme d'Or winner Shoplifters won in the best foreign-language category over fellow Oscar nominees Cold War, from Poland's Pawel Pawlikowski, and Capernaum, from Lebanon's Nadine Labaki; and Netflix's Girl, the Cannes Camera d'Or winner from Lukas Dhont. The three will be have another chance again on Sunday, though this year there is no French film in competition.
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Best Film
Memoir of War, Emmanuel Finkiel
The Trouble With You, Pierre Salvadori
The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard
Sink or Swim, Gilles Lellouche
Guy, Alex Lutz
WINNER - Custody, Xavier Legrand
In Safe Hands, Jeanne Herry -
Best Director
Emmanuel Finkiel, Memoir of War
Pierre Salvadori, The Trouble With You
WINNER - Jacques Audiard, The Sisters Brothers
Gilles Lellouche, Sink or Swim
Alex Lutz, Guy
Xavier Legrand, Custody
Jeanne Harry, In Safe Hands -
Best Actor
Edouard Baer, Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
Romain Duris, Our Struggles
Vincent Lacoste, Amanda
Gilles Lellouche, In Safe Hands
WINNER - Alex Lutz, Guy
Pio Marmai, The Trouble With You
Denis Menochet, Custody -
Best Actress
Elodie Bouchez, In Safe Hands
Cecile de France, Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
WINNER - Lea Drucker, Custody
Virginie Efira, An Impossible Love
Adele Haenel, The Trouble With You
Sandrine Kiberlain, In Safe Hands
Melanie Thierry, Memoir of War -
Best Supporting Actor
Jean-Hugues Anglade, Sink or Swim
Damien Bonnard, The Trouble With You
Clovis Cornillac, Little Tickles
WINNER - Philippe Katerine, Sink or Swim
Denis Podalydes, Sorry Angel -
Best Supporting Actress
Isabelle Adjani, The World Is Yours
Leila Bekhti, Sink or Swim
Virginie Efira, Sink or Swim
Audrey Tautou, The Trouble With You
WINNER - Karin Viard, Little Tickles -
Best Foreign Film
Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonaugh
Capernaum, Nadine Labaki
Cold War, Pawel Pawlikowski
Girl, Lukas Dhont
Hannah, Andrea Pallaoro
Our Struggles, Guillaume Senez
WINNER - Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-Eda -
Best Animated Film
Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion, Alexandre Astier and Louis Clichy
WINNER - Dilili in Paris, Michel Ocelot
Pachamama, Juan Antin -
Best First Film
L'Amour Flou, Romaine Bohringer
Little Tickles, Andrea Bescond, Eric Metayer
Custody, Xavier Legrand
Savage, Camille Vidal-Naquet
WINNER - Sheherazade, Jean-Bernard Marlin -
Best Documentary Film
America, Claus Drexel
Da Chaque Instant, Nicolas Philibert
Le Grand Bal, Laetitia Carton
WINNER - Ni Juge, Ni Soumise, Jean Libon, Yves Hinant
The State Against Mandela and the Others, Nicolas Champeaux, Gilles Porte -
Best Cinematography
Alexis Kavyrchine, Memoir of War
WINNER - Benoit Debie, The Sisters Brothers
Laurent Tangy, Sink or Swim
Nathalie Durand, Custody
Laurent Desmet, Mademoiselle de Joncquieres -
Best Production Design
Pascal Le Guellec, Memoir of War
Emile Ghigo, The Emperor of Paris
WINNER - Michel Barthelemy, The Sisters Brothers
David Faivre, Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
Thierry Francois, One Nation, One King -
Best Original Screenplay
The Trouble With You, by Pierre Salvadori, Beoit Graffin, Benjamin Charbit
Sink or Swim, by Gilles Lellouche, Ahmed Hamidi, Julien Lambroschini
Guy, by Alex Lutz, Anais Deban, Thibault Segouin
WINNER - Custody, by Xavier Legrand
In Safe Hands, Jeanne Herry -
Best Adapted Screenplay
WINNER - Little Tickles, by Andrea Bescond, Eric Metayer
Memoir of War, by Emmanuel Finkiel
The Sisters Brothers, by Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain
Mademoiselle de Joncquieres, by Emmanuel Mouret
An Impossible Love, by Catherine Corsini, Laurette Polmanss -
Best Costumes
Anais Romand, Sergio Ballo, Memoir of War
Pierre-Yves Gayraud, The Emperor of Paris
Milena Canonero, The Sisters Brothers
WINNER - Pierre-Jean Larroque, Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
Anais Romand, One Nation, One King -
Best Editing
Valerie Deseine, Little Tickles
Isabelle Devinck, The Trouble With You
Juliette Welfling, The Sisters Brothers
Simon Jacquet, Sink or Swim
WINNER - Yorgos Lamprinos, Custody -
Best Sound
Antoine-Basile Mercier, David Vranken, Aline Gavroy, Memoir of War
WINNER - Brigitte Taillandier, Valerie de Loof, Cyril Holts, The Sisters Brothers
Cedric Delouche, Gwennole le Borgene, Marc Doisne, Sink or Swim
Yves-Marie Omnes, Antoine Baudouin, Stephane Thiebaut, Guy
Julien Sicart, Julien Roig, Vincent Verdoux, Custody -
Best Original Score
Anton Sanko, Amanda
Camille Bazbaz, The Trouble With You
Alexandre Desplat, The Sisters Brothers
WINNER - Vincent Blanchard, Romain Greffe, Guy
Pascal Sangla, In Safe Hands
Gregoire Hetzel, An Impossible Love -
Best New Actor
Anthony Bajon, The Prayer
Thomas Gioria, Custody
William Lebghil, The Freshmen
Karim Leklou, The World Is Yours
WINNER - Dylan Robert, Sheherazade -
Best New Actress
Ophelie Bau, Mektoub My Love
Galatea Bellugi, The Apparition
Jehnny Beth, An Impossible Love
Lily-Rose Depp, A Faithful Man
WINNER - Kenza Fortas, Sheherazade