The Artist Triumphs At Frances Csar Awards With Surprises In The Mix

UPDATED: The Artist was the big winner at the 37th Csar Awards tonight in Paris with prizes for best picture, director, cinematography, score, art direction and actress for Brnice Bejo, who accepted her prize in one of the evening’s most moving moments. Best Actor Oscar-tipped Jean Dujardin, however, lost out to Untouchable‘s Omar Sy, who starred in the feel-good film that was 2011′s biggest hit in France and is now the third-biggest grosser of all time here. I watched the ceremony at a viewing party thrown by Wild Bunch, the international sales company behind such winners and nominees asArtist, Poliss and Declaration Of War. Some of the industry-laden crowd were unsurprised by Sy’s win over Dujardin, saying they sensed that even the somewhat staid French Acadmie was reticent to let the tireless Sy go without recognition. The soire was held in Wild Bunch’s movie theater-cum-lounge near the Pantheon with the sales teams, distributors and production folk who worked on their films plus other industry types– and filmmaker Gaspar Noe, too. The gathering had several horses in the various races but took it all in Gallic stride, cheering each other on, catcalling and yawning at the boring parts (and there were quite a few — the show tried to pull a Billy Crystal at the outset, inserting host Antoine de Caunes into the nominated films to a pretty muted reaction). Among the other surprises of the night were a win in the best original screenplay category for L’Exercice De L’Etat‘s Pierre Schoeller, who beat out Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist as well as other favored nominees. Among the highlights was Honorary Csar winner Kate Winslet, who had been charming the local press in the past days saying it was so much better to receive an award she knew she was going to win. Roman Polanski had been expected to bestow the honor but it was her Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry who was on hand — after host de Caunes congratulated Winslet for being against plastic surgery via her “message”, which according to him is “Don’t fuck with Mother Nature.” In accepting, Winslet made a note to particularly thank her Carnage director Roman Polanski; she later accepted the adapted screenplay prize for Polanski for Carnage. With the kudos pretty well spread out, one attendee this evening told me it wasn’t such a big deal if The Artist didn’t win every prize at home: “It’s more imortant it wins at the Oscars. It’s good for the Csars to pull a rabbit out of the hat sometimes.” Following is a full list of the winners: Best Picture The Artist, producer: Thomas Langmann Director Michel Hazanavicius The Artist Actress Brnice Bejo, The Artist Actor Omar Sy, Untouchable Supporting Actress Carmen Maura, Les Femmes Du 6e Etage Supporting Actor Michel Blanc, LExercice De LEtat Original Screenplay Pierre Schoeller LExercice De LEtat Adapted Screenplay Yasmina Reza, Roman Polanski Carnage Newcomer (Female) – TIE Naidra Ayadi, Polisse Clotilde Hesme, Angle Et Tony Newcomer (Male) Grgory Gadebois, Angle Et Tony Original Score Ludovic Bource The Artist Sound Olivier Hespel, Julie Brenta, Jean-Pierre Laforce LExercice De LEtat Cinematography Guillaume Schiffman The Artist Editing Laure Gardette, Yann Dedet Polisse Costumes Anas Romand House Of Tolerance Art Direction Laurence Bennett The Artist First Film Le Cochon De Gaza, director: Sylvain Estibal Foreign Film A Separation, director: Asghar Farhadi Animated Film Le Chat Du Rabbin, directors: Joann Sfar, Antoine Delesvaux Documentary Tous Au Larzac, director: Christian Rouaud Short Film LAccordeur, director: Olivier Treiner (Winslet photo: Getty Images)

'Werewolves' would go to U.K., Korea

BARCELONA -- Kaleidoscope Ing. has clicked up U.K. privileges to The spanish language comic fantasy "Bet on Werewolves" Sonamu Pictures has acquired Korean privileges. Deals were closed in the Berlin festival's European Film Market, stated sources at Vertice Sales, the worldwide sales arm of The spanish language conglom Vertice 360. Created by Spain's Telespan 2000 and Vaca Films, "Werewolves" is helmed by Juan Martinez Moreno ("Two Tough Men"). Occur an online north-western The spanish language hamlet, "Werewolves" sees a aspirant author coming back to his birthplace for inspiration to uncover it threatened with a century-old curse. Deals increase a flurry of other "Werewolves" sales, including certification pacts to Germany (Senator), Japan (Shochiku), Indonesia and Malaysia (Visicom), and also the Middle East (Gulf Film), showing that genre and genre-riffs for example "Werewolves" remain certainly one of Spain's strongest export staples. It world opened at October's Sitges Fest, Europe's greatest genre confab, where it's experts and also the public in stitches. In November, it required the crowd award in the San Sebastian Horror and Fantasy Film Fest. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Mad Males Season 5 Start Looking: Don Draper Has Returned!

Mad Males, Jon Hamm It has been way too lengthy since Don Draper continues to be on our television screens. Positive thing he'll return by Sunday, March 25. AMC grows Walking Dead's Season 3, announces return dates for Mad Males, The Killing Mad Males has not broadcast new episodes since October 2010, due simply to extended discussions for Seasons 5 and 6 between series creator Matthew Weiner and AMC. Therefore it is unfortunate that AMC did not supply any new footage within the just-launched teaser trailer. It is good to understand that style, debauchery along with other key points from the antihero have returned, but, well, what's really happening this year remains to appear. Browse the teaser below: Mad Males Season 5 debuts having a two-hour premiere on Sunday, March 25 at 9/8c on AMC.

FX guru talks Avengers opening sequence

It takes a lot of people to ensure a film on the scale of The Avengers looks as good as it should, and SFX specialists Hydraulx are the team charged with ensuring Iron Man and chums are at their most visually dazzling. Special effects supervisor Chris Wells has taken time out from his busy schedule to drop an update concerning the movie's opening sequence, and from the sounds of it, it's going to be epic..."We're doing what essentially boils down to the prelude of the movie," he said. "There's a whole intro that happens before you start even getting the titles and it's pretty big. There's nothing small in this movie." "I went to a screening with all the temporary visual effects and it was pretty fleshed out," continues Wells. "It's a long movie but it doesn't feel like it. Out of all the comic book movies and franchises I've worked on, this is the best one I've seen so far."To put that into context, Wells has worked on Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, Green Lantern and the X-Men series. The man knows his superhero flicks."I promise you it's not going to be boring," he says. "This thing has gone so big that Marvel are dwarfing their other franchises. For people who enjoy the comics and haven't really liked the way some of the characters were treated in other movies, I think they're going to be a little more appeased by this one." "Especially the Hulk," he continues, enticingly. "They let the Hulk be Hulk and that's great. He acts more like the comic book Hulk. It's fun. My biggest problem with every single superhero movie is I don't think the payoff ever matches the build up. This one definitely does."The Avengers opens in the UK on 27 April 2012.[brightcove]1213024251001[/brightcove]

Shoreline has 'Secret'

L.A.-based sales company Shoreline Entertainment will handle international sales outside Mexico on Gabriel Marino's "A Secret World," which world preems in Berlin's Generation section today.Also written by Marino, it turns on an 18-year-old middle-class girl who embarks on a road trip across Mexico.Shoreline exec VP Sam Eigen said that he first viewed the pic at the San Sebastian's Films in Progress rough-cut showcase and then pursued it aggressively.The "Secret" deal continues Shoreline's commitment to Latin American films. Its first Latin American pick-up, Sebastian Silva's "The Maid" clinched 35 international sales deals, Eigen said. It has also seen large sales success with Javier Fuentes-Leon's "Undertow."Produced by Tatiana Gullera and Sobrevivientes Films' Jesus Magana, a director in his own rights ("Abolicion de la propiedad," "Sobreviviente"), "World's" key finance was put up by Switzerland's Visions Sud Est Fund. It was developed at multiple filmmaking initiatives including Argentina's screenwriting lab TyPA Foundation."I wanted to film a portrait of Mexican youth. There's a lot of violence in Mexico, social instability, the future's uncertain, and for the young, there's little possibility to work or study," Marino said. "World" is "an attempt to show how young Mexicans think and feel." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com