On Thursday, January 17, Unifrance presented a French Cinema Award to the directors Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano at the French Ministry of Culture. The award was given out by the Minister Franck Riester, who praised the achievements of two of the most active ambassadors of French cinema at this time.
These filmmakers have revolutionized the way people see French comedies in the past ten years—in France and further afield. This is clearly demonstrated by the figures:
- The Intouchables (2011): 31.9 million admissions (€220 million) in 66 territories
- Samba (2013): 2.34 million admissions (€16.6 million) in 41 territories
- C'est la vie! (2016): 2.18 million admissions (€15.2 million) in 55 territories
To date, the directing duo's films have generated 36.6 million admissions and €253 in box office revenues outside France.
The filmmakers, who are currently preparing for the release of their seventh feature, The Specials, spent a large part of 2018 traveling around the world to present C'est la vie! and to meet with international audiences, who have proved to be avid fans of their films.
With this French Cinema Award, UniFrance wishes to thank and congratulate Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache for their personal commitment to supporting the release of their films in international markets: C'est la vie! stands out as the French comedy that has traveled to the largest number of countries across the globe in the past year.
The text of the speech made by UniFrance president Serge Toubiana is available for download (see attachment).
Created in 2016 by UniFrance, the French Cinema Award (redesigned in 2018 by the Maison Daum*) honors an exceptional figure in the international movie industry who has contributed to raising the profile of French cinema around the world.
French Cinema Awards since 2016
2016
- Producers Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam (The Little Prince)
- Italian distributor Andrea Occhipinti (Lucky Red)
2017
- Chinese distributor La Peikang (China Film Group)
- German distributor Torsten Frehse (Neue Visionen)
- French actress Isabelle Huppert
2018
- French actress Juliette Binoche
- Ddirector of the China Film Archive, Sun Xianghui
- Spanish distributor Adolfo Blanco (A Contracorriente Films)
*Art is an expression of emotions, a universal language. It is, indeed, "meant to disturb," in the words of the artist Georges Braque. The vision of the Maison Daum is about awakening a reminiscence of ancestral art; it also expresses an abiding connection with the art scene, through over 400 collaborations with artists over the years (such as Armand, Braque, Dali, Mesnager, and Kongo, among others). To celebrate its 140th anniversary, the Maison Daum wishes, through the French Cinema Award, to offer a magical work representing the wings of a white crystal angel created by Jean Lamore, which serves as a veritable symbol of the pure emotion of aesthetic pleasure.
