On March 2 and 3, a two-day event was organized for the second year running by UniFrance and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to celebrate the achievements of women in the French movie industry and the ongoing collaboration between professionals on both sides of the Atlantic. After honoring Maïmouna Doucouré in 2019, this year it was Mounia Meddour who was awarded the 2020 Academy Gold Fellowship Award for Women, presented by AMPAS.
The first day of the event, devoted to animation, brought together at the offices of the production company Xilam Animation a large number of professionals in the French animation sector, who took part in a panel discussion moderated by Bonnie Arnold, the elected representative of the animation branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Also present was Jérémy Clapin, recent César award-winner for his film I Lost My Body, along with producers Marc Du Pontavice, Damien Brunner and Didier Brunner, filmmakers Alain Gagnol, Hélène Giraud, and Thomas Szabo, and music producer Emmanuel Delétang.
The second and final day provided an opportunity to welcome seventy women working in the French movie industry at a Women's Initiative Luncheon hosted by Juliette Binoche, during which the director Mounia Meddour, whose film Papicha picked up two recent César Awards and was short listed for the Oscars (representing Algeria), was presented with the 2020 Academy Gold Fellowship Award for Women 2020 (with support from Swarovski). This award, which honors an up-and-coming French director whom the Academy wishes to support in her career, was handed to Meddour by AMPAS CEO Dawn Hudson, who was present throughout the event.
Take a look at our photo review of the two-day event below.
Media Gallery
© Giancarlo Gorassini - Bestimage / UniFrance
© Giancarlo Gorassini - Bestimage / UniFrance
