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FESTIVALS / AWARDS France

The Jean Vigo Prize goes to Sophie Letourneur

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- Courtesy of Enormous, the filmmaker joins the ranks of previous auteurs rewarded for originality, while Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu scoop an Honorary Jean Vigo

The Jean Vigo Prize goes to Sophie Letourneur
Enormous by Sophie Letourneur

Intended to pay tribute to filmmakers’ independence of mind, originality and the quality of their work, the 68th Jean Vigo Prize has been awarded to Sophie Letourneur for her film Enormous [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(unveiled early this year in Rotterdam), "for the unapologetic way in which it overturns clichés, inverts genres and allows comedy to rub shoulders with the documentary form; for its everyday tenderness and its refreshing rawness."

The director notably joins the ranks of Jean-Luc Godard, Maurice Pialat, Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol, Philippe Garrel, Olivier Assayas, Bruno Dumont, Laurent Cantet, Xavier Beauvois, Alain Guiraudie, Mathieu Amalric and last year’s victor Stéphane Batut. It’s the 6th  time a woman has won the Jean Vigo Prize, following in the footsteps of Anne Fontaine, Noémie Lvovsky, Patricia Mazuy, Katell Quillévéré and Héléna Klotz.

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As Sophie Letourneur’s 4th feature film after Chicks – Life At The Ranch [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(in competition at Rotterdam in 2010), Les Coquillettes [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(Out of Competition in Locarno in 2012) and Gaby Baby Doll [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(2014), Enormous sees Marina Foïs and Jonathan Cohen taking up lead roles. Produced by Caroline Bonmarchand on behalf of Avenue B Productions and by Vito Films, pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+ and supported by the Ile-de-France region as well as the SOFICA company Cinémage, the film was released in French cinemas on 2 September by way of Memento and is sold worldwide by Indie Sales.

The 2020 Jean Vigo Prize for a Short Film, meanwhile, went to Mathilde Profit for Un adieu, "for the sensitivity, the tact but also the acute sense of space and time which the director demonstrates in her exploration of a universal formula: a rite of passage which sees a young woman break free from the family nest". The film is produced by Jeanne Ezvan and Marthe Lamy on behalf of Apaches Fims.

Last but not least, an Honorary Jean Vigo Award was handed to Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu (who are currently wrapping filming on Tralala [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
).

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(Translated from French)

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