The French film industry gave Dustin Hoffman a special Cesar for his body of work and saluted Sean Penn at the Friday night ceremony. But France's coveted Cesar award for best movie went to a very French film, Martin Provost's “Seraphine”, based on magical true-life story. It swept seven prizes. Vincent Cassel, one of the stars of the Oceans 12 and 13 movies, scooped the best actor prize at France's top Cesar film awards for a role playing a notorious French gangster. But his movie, “Mesrine”, which went into the Cesars ceremony with nominations for 10 prizes, was brushed aside by “Seraphine”, the story of a dowdy cleaning woman who has a secret life as an artist. The movie, directed by Martin Provost, also won the best actress Cesar for its Belgian star Yolande Moreau, best screenplay, best photography, best music, best decor and for its costumes. Provost got the best film award from Hollywood actor-director Sean Penn. Waltz With Bashir”, Ari Folman's animated documentary on the horrors of the 1982 Lebanon war, was named best foreign film, adding to its Golden Globe prize earlier this year.
