'The Artist' wins best picture at Cesar awards

'The Artist' swept the major prizes at France's Cesar Awards, including best picture.PARIS-- Michel Hazanavicius' B&W silent homage to Hollywood's Golden Age, "The Artist" won top kudos Friday night at the 37th Cesar awards, including film, director for Michel Hazanavicius, thesp for Berenice Bejo, production design (Laurence Bennett), cinematography (Guillaume Schiffman), music (Ludovic Bource).Bejo, who previously earned a newcomer nod in Gerard Jugnot's comedy "Most Promising Young Actress," beat out strong contenders, notably Karin Viard and Marina Fois, who toplined in Maiwenn's daring police ensembler "Polisse."Since bowing at Cannes, "The Artist" has swept major prizes on both sides of the Atlantic, notably three Golden Globes, seven BAFTA's, one Goya and is contending for 10 Oscars on Sunday.But "The Artist" didn't have it all its way at France's top film awards. Underscoring the good health of Gallic cinema and the quality of the contenders, the Cesar kudos spread wider than at previous editions.French comic Omar Sy won over "The Artist" star Jean Dujardin in the actor category for his performance as a goofy caretaker from the projects in Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano's smash hit buddy dramedy "Untouchables."Pierre Schoeller's dense political drama "The Minister" won supporting actor for Michel Blanc, original screenplay for Schoeller and sound editing. Blanc was previously nominated seven times."The Minister" opened at Cannes' Un Certain Regard and nabbed the Fipresci nod."Polisse," which was nomed for a record 13 Cesar awards, took home two nods: female newcomer Naidra Ayadi and editing (Laure Gardette, Yann Dedet). Ayadi shared the newcomer prize with Clotilde Hesme for her performance in Alix Delaporte's feature debut "Angele and Tony," which also won male newcomer for Gregory Gadebois.Roman Polanski and Yasmina Reza won adapted screenplay for "Carnage" which is based on Reza's acclaimed play.Spanish thesp Carmen Maura who played the maid in the 1960s-set comedy "Service Entrance," took supporting actress.Christian Rouaud's "Leadersheep" took the docu award. It explores a traditional farming community fighting the government's plan to build an army training camp in their region.Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux's "The Rabbi's Cat" took the animation nod. Sfar won last year's Cesar for her feature debut, "Gainsbourg."Sylvain Estibal's "When Pigs Have Wings" took the first film nod. Produced by Marylin Prods, "Wings" bowed at Tokyo. The Gaza-set dramedy turns on a penniless Palestinian fisherman.Brit thesp Kate Winslet was on hand to receive a honorary Cesar award from the hands of helmer Michel Gondry, who directed her in "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Winslet follows the footsteps of a platoon of Hollywood stars, notably Quentin Tarantino, Dustin Hoffman and Will Smith, who have been honored by the French academy of Arts and Sciences in the past 10 years."This French honor makes me feel that I'm part of an international film community in which we all get to play in," said Winslet in her acceptance speech. "I'm thankful to Michel Gondry who was my introduction to French filmmaking."Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi's "A Separation" won foreign pic. The Gallic box office sleeper hit beat out Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan," Tom Hopper's "The King's Speech" and Lars Von Trier's "Melancholia," among others.A complete list follows:FILM "The Artist," Michel HazanaviciusDIRECTORMichel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"ACTOROmar Sy, "Intouchables"ACTRESSBerenice Bejo, "The Artist"SUPPORTING ACTORMichel Blanc, "The Minister"SUPPORTING ACTRESSCarmen Maura, "Service Entrance"NEWCOMER, ACTORGregory Gadebois, "Angele et Tony"NEWCOMER, ACTRESSNaidra Ayadi, "Polisse"Clotilde Hesme, "Angele et Tony"FIRST FILMSylvain Estibal, "When Pigs Have Wings"ORIGINAL SCREENPLAYPierre Schoeller, "The Minister"ADAPTED SCREENPLAYYasmina Reza, Roman Polanski, "Carnage"FOREIGN FILM"A Separation," Asghar FarhadiCINEMATOGRAPHYGuillaume Schiffman, "The Artist"ANIMATED FILM"The Rabbi's Cat," Joann Sfar, Antoine DelesvauxDOCUMENTARY FEATURE"Tous au Larzac," Christian RouaudMUSICLudovic Bource, "The Artist" Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com