Bejo Named Best Actress at the Cesar Awards

Bérénice Bejo has one more coveted award in her trophy collection…

The 35-year-old Argentine actress—who received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress—picked up the best actress award at the 37th annual Cesar Awards on Friday night in Paris for her breakout role in award-winning film The Artist.

Berenice Bejo Cesar Awards

To claim the award, Bejo beat out Declaration of War’s Valerie Donzelli, Poliss stars Karin Viard and Marina Fois, Leila Bekhti for The Source, Marie Gillain for Toutes nos envies and Ariane Ascaride for her role in The Snows of Kilimanjaro.

It’s the latest award for Bejo, who steals the show in the silent, black-and-white film. The Artist star picked up a Lumiere Award at France’s version of the Golden Globes earlier this year for her role as Peppy Miller, among other awards.

In all,  France’s Academy of Technical Arts and Sciences lavished six awards including French film of the year on The Artist at the awards show.

Bejo now heads to Los Angeles, where The Artist will vie for 10 Academy Awards at Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony.

Hail Cesar! Bejo Receives a Cesar Award Nomination…

Having scored numerous nominations this awards season—including her first Academy Award nomination—it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Bérénice Bejo has received recognition from France’s Academy of Technical Arts and Sciences.

The 35-year-old Argentine actress—the scene-stealer in the critically acclaimed French silent, black-and-white film The Artist—has received a Cesar Award nomination for best actress.

Berenice Bejo The Artist

Bejo is up against Declaration of War’s Valerie Donzelli, Poliss stars Karin Viard and Marina Fois, Leila Bekhti for Radu Mihaileanu’s The Source, Marie Gillain for Toutes nos envies and Ariane Ascaride for her role in The Snows of Kilimanjaro.

In all, France’s Academy bestowed Michel HazanaviciusThe Artist with 10 nominations including best film, best actor for Bejo’s co-star Jean Dujardin and best director.

For the first time, one of the Cesar favorites — The Artist — is a best film Oscar front-runner as well, which doesn’t surprise French Film Academy president Alain Terzian.

“Don’t forget that the Cesar Awards were created in homage to the Oscars,” Terzian told The Hollywood Reporter. “The people who founded the Cesar Awards were all known in Hollywood – Claude Lelouch, Claude Berri, Costa-Gavras, Michel Legrand and Jean-Jacques Annaud for example. It’s symbolic that the Cesar and the Oscars are the same weekend. It’s an homage I want to permanently pay.”

The winners will be announced at the 36th annual Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris on February 24, just two days prior to the Academy Awards.