Jacques Audiard’s gripping prison thriller A Prophet continues to gather momentum as we head towards the Oscars – where it’s nominated in the Best Foreign Film category – by taking home nine Cesars (France’s premiere awards) at a ceremony held over the weekend.

Among the honours bestowed upon the film were Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor for star Tahar Rahim, who was also named Most Promising Actor. Rahim’s co-star Niels Arestrup won Best Supporting Actor, while the film also took home Best Original Screenplay, Editing, Production Design and Cinematography.

In acceting his award, Audiard acknowledged the support of the extras in the film, who were all ex-prisoners.  ”We had a really exceptional cast of extras,” he said. “They forced us to do something exceptional.”

A Prophet has been winning awards left, right at centre since it won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where it made its debut. This has been followed by a BAFTA, the London Critics’ Circle Film of the Year Prize and Best Film at the London Film Festival. The smart money says that an Oscar will be added to this impressive haul on March 7.