'Artist' wins Lumiere best pic

PARIS -- Gaul's kudos season kicked off Friday with Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist" winning best film and actress for Berenice Bejo at the Lumieres Awards, the French equivalent to the Golden Globes. The pic, which has been on an award-winning spree ever since bowing at Cannes, and is nommed for six Golden Globes, beat out other Cannes titles vying for the Lumieres best film nod: Pierre Schoeller's "The Minister," Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache's smash hit comedy "Intouchables," Bertrand Bonello's "Apolonide" and Aki Kaurismaki's "Le Havre," winner of the Louis Delluc prize, which is handed out by French critics. "The Artist," which was produced by Thomas Langmann's La Petite Reine, was released Stateside in November by the Weinstein Co. Competing against Hazanavicius, Bonello and Kaurismaki, Maiwenn picked up helmer for her third feature, "Polisse," a gritty ensemble drama centering on cops working in a child protection unit. Omar Sy, who stars opposite Francois Cluzet in "Intouchables," won actor, beating out "The Artist's" Jean Dujardin, among other strong contenders. Before his breakthrough performance in "Intouchables," Sy was best known in France as a smallscreen comic on "SAV," a daily comedy show that airs on Canal Plus. Sy also starred in Nakache and Toledano's previous two films, "Those Happy Days" and "So Happy Together." "Intouchables," Gaul's second biggest B.O. hit ever, was produced by Quad Films and co-produced by Gaumont. Weinstein Co. has acquired the film for multiple territories, including U.S. distribution and remake rights. Denis Menochet nabbed newcomer for his part in "Les Adoptes," a family dramedy that marks the directorial debut of thesp Melanie Laurent ("Inglourious Basterds"); while three of "Apollonide's" thesps, Alice Barnole, Adele Haenel and Celine Sallette, shared the female newcomer prize. Quebec helmer Denis Villeneuve's heart-wrenching drama "Incendies," based on a play by Wajdi Mouawad, won for foreign film in the French language. A critical success, "Incendies" repped Canada in last year's foreign-language film Oscar race. Taking place during the Unifrance's mini-market, Rendez-Vous, the Lumieres Awards are voted on by foreign correspondents based in Paris. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com