Nominated in the best actress category, the Luxembourger did not take home the statuette. (Photo: Shutterstock/Archive)

Nominated in the best actress category, the Luxembourger did not take home the statuette.  (Photo: Shutterstock/Archive)

Stéphan Roelants and Mélusine Productions won a second César for best animated film on Friday evening, thanks to the Franco-Luxembourg co-production Le sommet des dieux. But Luxembourg actress Vicky Krieps did did not pick up the statuette for best actress.

After two editions tarnished by scandals, low TV ratings and, of course, the health crisis, the  47th César awards ceremony was supposed to restore the reputation of French cinema’s the gala evening.

The second César for Mélusine

Twelve months after the César (for best first film) won by Deux, co-produced by Donato Rotunno and Élise André (Tarantula Luxembourg), it was the turn of Sommet des dieux, co-produced by Stéphan Roelants and Mélusine Productions, to be honoured. The film French director Patrick Imbert--an adaptation of a famous manga by Jirô Taniguchi and Baku Yumemakura--picked up the César for best animated feature.

ILuxembourg financed 21% of the film, mainly via the Film Fund, but also a little by Mélusine Productions. And the film has now been bought by Netflix to be broadcast in a good part of the world (except for Benelux, France and some Asian territories).

This is also the second time that Mélusine Productions has won a César, after the one in 2013 for Ernest & Célestine (directed by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier).

Valérie Lemercier best actress

The other Luxembourg co-production in the running, Les Intranquilles by Belgian Joachim Lafosse (Samsa Film), came up empty-handed despite its two nominations for best actress and best actor.

Vicky Krieps, who was nominated for best actress and present at the Paris ceremony, was also out of luck. Valérie Lemercier's performance in Aline, her real fake biopic on Céline Dion, was crowned best actress.

The winners of the main categories were:

Best film: Lost Illusions by Xavier Giannoli

Best Director: Leos Carax for Annette

Best actress: Valérie Lemercier in Aline

Best Actor: Benoît Magimel in De son vivant

Best Supporting Actress: Aissatou Diallo Sagna in La Fracture

Best Supporting Actor: Vincent Lacoste in Lost Illusions

Best First Film: Les Magnétiques by Vincent Maël Cardona

Best Female Hope: Anamaria Vartolomei in L'Evénement

Best male hope: Benjamin Voisin in Lost Illusions

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.