'Anatomy Of A Fall' triumphs at France’s Golden Globes, the Lumière Awards

Anatomy Of A Fall triumphs at France’s Lumière Awards - Copyright Le Pacte

Published on 23/01/2024 - 12:06

Seen as France’s equivalent of the Golden Globes, this year’s Lumière Awards saw Justine Triet’s 'Anatomy of a Fall' win three key prizes, including Best Film. Hopes are high that it will feature prominently in the upcoming Oscar nominations.

Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall continues its award-wInning streak, having bagged France’s 29th Lumière Awards' Best Film and Best Screenplay, while its German star Sandra Hüller won Best Actress.

The Lumières celebrate the best films, performances and technical achievements of French cinema, and is widely known as the French equivalent of the Golden Globes. They are voted on by the Académie des Lumières, which is made up of France-based international journalists representing 36 countries.

The ceremony was held last night (Monday 22 January) at the Forum des Images in Paris. Scroll down for the full list of winners.

Anatomy of a Fall was nominated in six Lumière categories, and previously swept the board at the European Film Awards in Berlin last December. The celebrated courtroom drama has since won Best non-English Language Film and Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes and Best International Film at the Critics Choice Awards.

The movie is also nominated for seven BAFTAs and is expected to be nominated for several Oscars today (Tuesday 23 January). Many are predicting that lead actress Sandra Hüller has a chance of winning an Academy Award for her role in Anatomy of a Fall. Her stiffest competition comes from Emma Stone, who has been gaining some awards momentum recently for her stunning role in Poor Things.

Read our interview with Sandra Hüller, in which she discusses her roles in both Anatomy of a Fall and the harrowing Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest, which is also expected to be Oscar nominated.

Another Oscar hopeful which won a Lumières prize was Kaouther Ben Hania’s French-Tunisian co-production Four Daughters, which won best documentary.

The formally daring docu-fiction hybrid, which examines the disappearance and radicalization of two Tunisian girls through both dramatic re-enactments and interviews with the real-life subjects, was one of the most memorable documentaries at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Themes of motherhood, generational transference of trauma, and the weight of entrenched patriarchal structures designed to perpetuate the societal oppression of women are explored with a candidness that is deeply impactful.

During the ceremony, Ben Hania tearfully called for a ceasefire in Gaza in her speech. Shortly after, Harari said he was “disgusted by what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza,” prompting applauses from some guests, while others shouted “release the hostages.”

Read our interview with Kaouther Ben Hania.

Elsewhere, other key Lumière prizes went to Thomas Cailley, who won Best Director for Cannes 2023 Un Certain Regard opener The Animal Kingdom, while Arieh Worthalter won Best Actor for his performance in Cédric Khan’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight opener The Goldman Case.

The Oscar nominations are expected later today, and the French film industry’s next big event, the César Awards, will unveil nominations tomorrow (Wednesday 24 January).

Here is the full list of winners at this year’s Lumière Awards:

Best Film