Edouard Weil and Alice Girard, the producers of Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion-winning “Happening” and Valerie Lemercier’s Celine Dion movie “Aline,” won the Toscan du Plantier Award at a fancy Paris ceremony hosted by the Cesar Academie.
Weil and Girard, who run the Paris-based production banner Rectangle Productions, were selected by 1,557 voters, including all the artists and crew members who have been nominated at the Cesar Awards since 2008, as well as the 164 members of the Association for the Promotion of Cinema.
Besides “Happening” and “Aline,” Rectangle Productions delivered several other critically acclaimed films within the last year, including Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s “Bloody Oranges,” Gaspar Noé’s “Vortex” which played at Cannes.
Since being created by Weil in 2003, the company has also produced films by international auteurs, including Elia Suleiman. Girard, an industry veteran who previously held a senior executive position at French broadcasting group France Televisions, joined the banner in 2012.
The duo received the Toscan du Plantier Award from the hands of fellow producer Alain Attal (“My King,” “Tell No One”) who was awarded the honorary prize twice in a row in 2018 and 2019.
The gala dinner took place at the Intercontinental Hotel’s ornate ballroom and was attended by other leading producers, notably Hugo Selignac (“The Stronghold”) and Charles Gillibert (“Annette”).
The 47th Cesar Awards will take place Feb. 25. Xavier Giannoli’s “Lost Illusions,” an adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s classic novel with Xavier Dolan and Benjamin Voisin, is leading nominations with 15 nods. “Aline” and “Happening,” meanwhile, earn 10 and 4 nominations, respectively. “Happening” helmer Diwan is also nominated for best director at the BAFTA’s.
Some A-list stars are expected to attend this year’s in-person Cesar ceremony, notably Adam Driver, nominated for a best actor Cesar for his performance in Leos Carax’s “Annette,” along with Cate Blanchett who will receive the honorary Cesar Award.
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