Revenge of the French

On the biggest night in French film, the 38th French César Awards Ceremony in Paris, home-grown talent was rewarded.

Michael Haneke won Best Director for 'Amour'; Jean-Louis Trintignant won Best Actor; and Emmanuelle Riva completed the hat-trick with Best Actress. The film also won Best Original Screenplay.

Haneke missed the ceremony; he’s already in the US for Sunday’s Academy Awards where the film is nominated in five categories including  Best Film, Best Foreign Film, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

Riva, who says she is not attending the Oscars, picked up her award in person - two days before her 86th birthday.

Meanwhile 'Rust and Bone', starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts, picked up four gongs including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Newcomer (Male) for Schoenaerts.

'Argo' won Best Foreign Film - in a neat reversal of the Oscars.

And Hollywood star Kevin Costner received an honorary César for his lifetime of work on films such as 'Dances with Wolves', 'The Untouchables', 'JFK' and 'The Bodyguard'.  

Academy president Alain Terzian said in a statement that the actor and director created "films that made us dream", and the award was for his "fabulous contribution to the history of cinema".