Double blow for Junkyard Dog who wins two Cesars in Paris

Raphaël Quenard et son César de meilleur espoir masculin. MAXPPP – CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

Jean-Baptiste Durand won the trophy for Best First Film. MAXPPP – TERESA SUAREZ

Filmed in Pouget and Sète, in Hérault, Jean-Baptiste Durand's feature film won, this Friday evening on Canal, the prize for best first film and that of best male hopeful awarded to Raphaël Quenard for his interpretation of Mirales.

The adventure is definitely magnificent for Junkyard Dog. This first feature film by the Montpellier director, shot at Pouget in November 2021, indeed won two Césars this Friday evening, during the 49th ceremony which pays tribute to French cinema.

A wish granted

"A film is for me a collective work from its conception to its theatrical release”, underlined the director, originally from Montpeyroux, sober and moved, who came to collect the trophy for best first film on the Olympia scene. At the start of the evening, the director responded to a microphone on Canal. To the question asked: "which César would you like to win if you had to choose just one ?", Jean-Baptiste Durand responded straight away: "the one from the first film because you can only have one in your life. He will therefore have been granted… beyond his hopes.

Raphaël Quenard incandescent

Because a few minutes later, Raphaël Quenard won the César for Best Male Newcomer for his interpretation of Mirales, one of the main characters in Chien de la Casse. In front of an audience of stars, the actor electrified the room with his verve, his natural charisma, his very particular style. A moment of pure jubilation but also political, in the form of homage to farmers, between the poignant speech of Judith Godrèche and, in particular, that of director Kaouther ben Hania who calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

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