- César Awards 2005: Abdellatif Kechiche’s low-budget, Paris banlieue-set drama Games of Love and Chance shockingly beat two internationally renowned productions, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s A Very Long Engagement and Christophe Barratier’s The Chorus.
César Awards 2005: Best Film trophy unexpectedly goes to low-budget drama about the socially disenfranchised
Surprisingly, Abdellatif Kechiche’s Games of Love and Chance / L’Esquive (approximately, “The One Hard to Pin Down”), was named Best Film at the French César Awards, handed out by the Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques on Feb. 26 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. (See further below the full list of this year’s César du Cinéma winners and nominees.)
Featuring a cast of unknowns, Kechiche’s low-budget, Paris banlieue-set drama beat more high-profile efforts like Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s A Very Long Engagement and Christophe Barratier’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominee The Chorus.
In addition, Games of Love and Chance topped the Best Screenplay (Abdellatif Kechiche and Ghalia Lacroix) and Most Promising Actress (Sara Forestier) categories.
Set at a Parisian housing project filled with immigrants and their children, Kechiche’s drama centers on a withdrawn teenager (Osman Elkharraz) with artistic aspirations.
International hit A Very Long Engagement wins most awards
In absolute numbers, the big budget, World War I-focused romantic drama A Very Long Engagement, starring Best Actress nominee Audrey Tautou, was the Prix César’s big winner, with a total of five awards: Best Supporting Actress (Marion Cotillard), Most Promising Actor (Gaspard Ulliel), Best Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel), Best Production Design (Aline Bonetto), and Best Costume Design (Madeline Fontaine).
Yolande Moreau was a double winner: as Best Actress for and as the co-director – with Gilles Porte – of Best First Film When the Sea Rises. In the French-Belgian romantic comedy, Moreau plays a stage performer who becomes involved with a scooter-riding stranger (Wim Willaert).
Gad Elmaleh hosted this year’s César Awards, while four-time Best Actress Prix César winner Isabelle Adjani acted as President of the Ceremony.
For the record, Adjani’s Prix César wins were for the following: Possession (1981), One Deadly Summer (1983), Camille Claudel (1988), and Queen Margot (1994).
Prix César & Étoile d’Or
Below is the full list of this year’s Prix César winners and nominees. Further down is the list of Étoiles d’Or winners, announced by the Academy of French Film Journalists.
Arnaud Desplechin’s Kings & Queen topped four Étoile d’Or categories: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress (Emmanuelle Devos), and Best Actor (César winner Mathieu Amalric).
Games of Love of Chance won one single Étoile d’Or: Best Female Newcomer for Sara Forestier, tied with Marilou Berry for Look at Me.
César Awards 2005: Winners & nominations
Best Film
The Chorus / Les Choristes
* Games of Love and Chance / L’Esquive
Kings & Queen / Rois et reine
36th Precinct / 36 Quai des Orfèvres
A Very Long Engagement / Un Long dimanche de fiançaillesBest European Union Film
* Ae Fond Kiss… (U.K.)
Bad Education / La mala educación (Spain)
Mondovino (Italy | France | Argentina | US)
Saraband (Sweden)
Life Is a Miracle / Zivot je cudo (Serbia and Montenegro | France)Best Foreign Film
21 Grams (United States)
The Motorcycle Diaries / Diarios de motocicleta (US | Argentina | Brazil)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (United States)
Fahrenheit 9/11 (United States)
* Lost in Translation (US | Japan)Best First Film
A Common Thread / Brodeuses
The Chorus
Podium
* When the Sea Rises / Quand la mer monte…
Work Hard, Play Hard / Violence des échanges en milieu tempéréBest Director
Christophe Barratier – The Chorus
Arnaud Desplechin – Kings & Queen
Jean-Pierre Jeunet – A Very Long Engagement
* Abdellatif Kechiche – Games of Love and Chance
Olivier Marchal – 36th PrecinctBest Actress
Maggie Cheung – Clean
Emmanuelle Devos – Kings & Queen
* Yolande Moreau – When the Sea Rises
Audrey Tautou – A Very Long Engagement
Karin Viard – The Role of Her Life / Le Rôle de sa vieBest Actor
* Mathieu Amalric – Kings & Queen
Daniel Auteuil – 36th Precinct
Gérard Jugnot – The Chorus
Benoît Poelvoorde – Podium
Philippe Torreton – The Light / L’ÉquipierBest Supporting Actor
François Berléand – The Chorus
* Clovis Cornillac – The Story of My Life / Mensonges et trahisons et plus si affinités
André Dussollier – 36th Precinct
Maurice Garrel – Kings & Queen
Jean-Paul Rouve – PodiumBest Supporting Actress
Ariane Ascaride – A Common Thread
* Marion Cotillard – A Very Long Engagement
Mylène Demongeot – 36th Precinct
Julie Depardieu – Podium
Émilie Dequenne – The LightMost Promising Actor
Osman Elkharraz – Games of Love and Chance
Damien Jouillerot – Bad Spelling / Les Fautes d’orthographe
Jérémie Rénier – Work Hard, Play Hard
* Gaspard Ulliel – A Very Long Engagement
Malik Zidi – Changing Times / Les Temps qui changentMost Promising Actress
Marilou Berry – Look at Me / Comme une image
* Sara Forestier – Games of Love and Chance
Lola Naymark – A Common Thread
Sabrina Ouazani – Games of Love and Chance
Magalie Woch – Kings & QueenBest Screenplay – Original or Adaptation
* Games of Love and Chance – Abdellatif Kechiche & Ghalia Lacroix
Kings & Queen – Arnaud Desplechin & Roger Bohbot
Look at Me – Agnès Jaoui & Jean-Pierre Bacri
36th Precinct – Olivier Marchal, Frank Mancuso & Julien Rappeneau
A Very Long Engagement – Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Guillaume LaurantBest Cinematography
Clean – Eric Gautier
Two Brothers / Deux frères – Jean-Marie Dreujou
* A Very Long Engagement – Bruno DelbonnelBest Film Editing
36th Precinct – Hugues Darmois (as Hachdé)
* Two Brothers – Noëlle Boisson
A Very Long Engagement – Hervé SchneidBest Original Music
* The Chorus – Bruno Coulais
Exiles / Exils – Tony Gatlif & Delphine Mantoulet
The Light – Nicola Piovani
A Very Long Engagement – Angelo BadalamentiBest Production Design
The Chorus – François Chauvaud
Immortal / Immortel (ad vitam) – Jean-Pierre Fouillet
* A Very Long Engagement – Aline BonettoBest Costume Design
Arsène Lupin – Pierre-Jean Larroque
Podium – Catherine Bouchard
* A Very Long Engagement – Madeline FontaineBest Sound
* The Chorus – Daniel Sobrino, Nicolas Cantin & Nicolas Naegelen
36th Precinct – François Maurel, Pierre Mertens, Sylvain Lasseur & Joël Rangon
A Very Long Engagement – Vincent Arnardi, Gérard Hardy & Jean UmanskyBest Short Film
* Cousines
Hymne à la gazelle
La Méthode Bourchnikov
Les ParallèlesHonorary Awards
Jacques Dutronc
Will SmithÉtoiles d’Or 2005 winners
Best Film: Kings & Queen
Best Director: Arnaud Desplechin – Kings & Queen
Best Actress: Emmanuelle Devos – Kings & Queen
Best Actor: Mathieu Amalric – Kings & Queen
Best Screenplay: Look at Me – Agnès Jaoui & Jean-Pierre Bacri
Best First Film: A Common Thread
Best Male Newcomer: Julien Boisselier – Clara et moi
Best Female Newcomer (tie): Marilou Berry – Look at Me | Sara Forestier – Games of Love and Chance
Best Score: The Chorus, Genesis – Bruno Coulais
“César Awards 2005: Banlieue Drama Surprise” notes
Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques website.
Osman Elkharraz Games of Love and Chance image: Rézo Films.
“César Awards 2005: Banlieue Drama Surprise” last modified in October 2025.