A Prophet sweeps the C

The French film industry lined up behind Jacques Audiard's A Prophet on Saturday night, honouring the gripping prison drama with nine Césars, including best film, best director and best actor for its young star Tahar Rahim.

The movie, which chronicles a callow, illiterate Arab inmate's brutal education and rise to power during his six-year imprisonment, also won the awards for best original screenplay, editing, production design and cinematography. Niels Arestrup, who plays the Corsican mob boss who sees his influence ebb away to his young underling, won the best supporting actor award while Rahim was also named most promising actor. The Césars are France's equivalent of the Oscars, which A Prophet, nominated for best foreign-language film, has a chance of adding to its awards haul on 7 March.

Audiard thanked the numerous ex-prisoners who appeared as extras in the film and helped to create its realistic atmosphere. "We had a really exceptional cast of extras," he said. "They forced us to do something exceptional."

A Prophet has been a critics' favourite since its premiere at last year's Cannes film festival, where it won the Grand Jury prize. It has since added such accolades as the Bafta for best foreign-language film, the London Critics' Circle film of the year prize and the London film festival's inaugural best film award.

It had been expected to get stiff competition from Welcome, Philippe Lioret's immigration drama, which had 10 nominations to A Prophet's 13 and had been the big winner at the Lumiere awards earlier in the year. In the event, Welcome went home empty-handed.

French film legend Isabelle Adjani was named best actress for her role as a teacher who has a meltdown in The Day of the Skirt, her first big-screen role in five years. Best supporting actress went to Emmanuelle Devos, who plays the woman who stands in the way of a conman in Xavier Giannoli's In the Beginning.

Harrison Ford was honoured with a lifetime achievement award and Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino beat Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon and James Cameron's Avatar to win the César for best foreign film.

The evening also featured a homage to Eric Rohmer, the pioneering New Wave director who died in January.

A Prophet Film Page | Tahar Rahim Profile

Source: Guardian Online