PARIS — L‘Esquive (The Dodging), a small-budget drama about alienated suburban teens, was the surprise winner Saturday at France’s top film honours, the Césars, scooping up the awards for best French film and best director.
Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation won the César for best foreign film, while Ken Loach’s Ae Fond Kiss and Emir Kusturica’s Life Is a Miracle shared the award for the best film from the European Union.
L’Esquive also won the best screenplay award for its Tunisian-born director, Abdellatif Kechiche, and his co-writer Ghalia Lacroix, and the female newcomer award for Sara Forestier.
The $1-million (U.S.) film, shot with a largely amateur cast of teenagers, fended off strong competition from high-profile films including Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s First World War drama, A Very Long Engagement, the police thriller 36 Quai des Orfèvres, starring Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu, and the small-budget box-office triumph of the year, The Chorus (Les Choristes).