The Festival del film Locarno will present the Excellence Award Moët & Chandon 2011 to the French actress Isabelle Huppert. The award ceremony will take place on Sunday August 7 on the Piazza Grande. On the same day the Festival audience will have an opportunity to attend a conversation with the actress moderated by Jean-Marc Lalanne and Olivier Père.
In conjunction with this award Locarno will screen The Lacemaker by Claude Goretta, Loulou by Maurice Pialat, Merci pour le Chocolat by Claude Chabrol, The Piano Teacher by Michael Haneke, White Material by Claire Denis and Villa Amalia by Benoît Jacquot.
Isabelle Huppert’s first major role was in The Lacemaker, directed by Swiss filmmaker Claude Goretta. Her brilliant performance as Violette won her international acclaim (including Best Actress at Cannes) and began a long and productive working relationship with Claude Chabrol (on seven films, including A Real Young Girl, La Cérémonie, both of which won her Best Actress awards at Venice, and Madame Bovary). Isabelle Huppert has worked with numerous major directors, both French (Maurice Pialat, André Téchiné, Benoît Jacquot, Jacques Doillon, Bertrand Tavernier, Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis, Patrice Chéreau…) and European (Jean-Luc Godard, Marco Ferreri, Werner Schroeter, Michael Haneke…) in films that are landmarks in contemporary cinema (The Piano Teacher won her another Best Actress award at Cannes). In the USA she featured in Michael Cimino’s epic masterpiece Heaven’s Gate. She has also worked with Hal Hartley, Curtis Hanson and David O’Russell.
With such a remarkably strong filmography, often playing very intense, mysterious and tragic characters, Isabelle Huppert also likes to venture into mainstream popular cinema (she has an outstanding feel for comedy) and demonstrate her confidence in contemporary young auteurs: Christophe Honoré (My Mother), Joachim Lafosse (Private Property), Ursula Meier (Home), Eva Ionesco (My Little Princess)…
Isabelle Huppert will soon be seen in new films by two great Asian filmmakers, Brillante Mendoza from the Philippines and the Korean director Hong Sangsoo.
Alongside her film career, Isabelle Huppert can also take pride in her equally remarkable performances on the stage, where she has played in major productions of both classic and contemporary theatre, directed by some of the most celebrated directors, both in France and abroad (Claude Régy, Jacques Lassalle, Bob Wilson, Peter Zadek, Krzysztof Warlikowski…)
Olivier Père, Artistic director of the Festival del film Locarno: «Undoubtedly one of the best actresses of our times, Isabelle Huppert has created a powerful body of work, choosing complex and unforgettable roles and directors who rank among the most distinctive in modern cinema. Her range as an actress seems infinite, and shows her mastery of the craft, passion, instinct and intelligence, hard work and an ability to take risks. It is an enormous honour to welcome Isabelle Huppert to the Festival del film Locarno, where she featured in Igor Minaiev’s The Flood, and to present her with the Excellence Award Moët & Chandon. »
Every year the Festival del film Locarno’s Excellence Award distinguishes one or more internationally renowned actors. Previous recipients include Oleg Menchikov, Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Michel Piccoli, Carmen Maura, Toni Servillo and Chiara Mastroianni.
Moët & Chandon is supporting the Excellence Award for the third consecutive year.
The 64th edition of the Festival del film Locarno will take place August 3 -13, 2011.
Press Office
64° Festival del film Locarno
3-13 | 8 | 2011
Via Ciseri 23 | CH-6601 Locarno
tel +41 91 756 21 21 | fax +41 91 756 21 49
press@pardo.ch | www.pardo.ch
