Isabelle Huppert and F.J. Ossang return with awards from the prestigious Locarno Film Festival, and two other French coproductions received important recognition at the 70th edition.
The Locarno Film Festival, the magnificent showcase of arthouse cinema from around the world, which always brings sunshine to the town beside Lake Maggiore in Switzerland, wrapped on August 12 with an awards ceremony that shone the spotlight on French cinema, in particular thanks to the in-depth work carried out by French companies in international coproductions.
Thus, the highest honor, the Pardo d'oro (Golden Leopard) was awarded to the Chinese documentary filmmaker Wang Bing for Mrs. Fang, a French minority coproduction via the company Idéale Audience.
The Leopard for Best Director went to the cult filmmaker F.J. Ossang for his film 9 Fingers (10:15! Productions).
Isabelle Huppert took away the Best Actress award for her performance as a timid teacher (with a hidden side) in Mrs. Hyde by Serge Bozon (Les Films Pelléas).
The fourth and last major award: the Special Jury Award for Good Manners, by the Brazilians Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra, a French minority coproduction produced by Good Fortune Films.
In the Cineasti del Presente section, Milla, by Valérie Massadian, received the Special Jury Award.
Last but not least, in the short film sidebar Loukianos Moshonas returned from Switzerland with the Prix Pianifica (Locarno Nomination for the European Film Awards) for his film Young Men at Their Window (Aka Productions).
The full awards list can be found here.
