‘Pacifiction’the exotic thriller by Spanish director Albert Serra shot in French Polynesia, has won two of the nine caesar awards to which he aspired, at a gala in which the great winner was ‘La Nuit du 12’ and in which ‘As beasts’by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, has won in Best Foreign Film.

The 48th edition of the most important awards of the French film industry, which has not forgotten to pay a small tribute to Jean-Luc Godard. In addition, they counted a surprise appearance by Brad Pitt to deliver the César de Honor to director David Fincher, they elevated the police drama ‘La Nuit du 12’ as the Best Film of the year and its director, Dominik Moll, as Best Director.

This film, based on the unsolved death of a young woman, has added a total of six statuettes among its ten nominations, surpassing other favourites, such as the comedy ‘L’Innocent’, by Louis Garrel, or ‘Pacifiction’ itself.

Serra’s film triumphs went to Benoit Magimel for Best Actor and for the photography by Artur Tort. Both, upon receiving their awards, have praised the freedom that Serra gives them in their workvery open to improvisation at the moment.

“I never thought it was possible to be so free,” Magimel said emotionally from the stage of the Olympia Theater in Paris. For his part, Tort, Serra’s regular collaborator, has thanked him for everything they have done together and for everything they still have to do. “It was what was planned, what we thought could happen and it has happened. We could have had something more to fulfill me, but hey, it was very difficult,” Serra assessed in statements to the press after the ceremony.

For the Catalan director, “it is clear that people” in France have been able to appreciate the “originality” of the film. That, however, It had not happened to him in Spain, where this co-production went unnoticed for the Goya awards. “They have awarded two of the most powerful elements in the image, which are photography and the actor, the most hypnotic of the film, which combines this originality, that it is clearly seen that people have understood it,” he remarked.

Other notable awards of the night went to Virginie Efira for Best Actress and to Louis Garrel for the original screenplay for ‘L’Innocent’.

The icing on the cake for the list of winners of ‘As bestas’

The César for Best Foreign Film was in Spanish hands and it went to Rodrigo Sorogoyen with ‘As bestas’, which competed with the Belgian ‘Close’ (Lukas Dhont), the Swedish ‘Boy from Heaven’ (Tarik Saleh), the Polish ‘EO ‘ (Jerzy Skolimowski) and the also Swedish ‘Triangle of Sadness’ (Ruben Östlund).

“Thank you for letting us be a small part of French cinema”, said the Madrid director from the stage. Later, in statements to the press, he stated that it was already a “dream” to have been nominated for such good films and after their success at the Goyas. “Now that we have achieved it, it is like a perfect icing, there could not be a better ending, a better climax than winning the César, incredible“, Sorogoyen has expressed.