On January 18, 2024, actor Melvil Poupaud, whose forty-year career, rich in variety, has progressively established him as a key figure in auteur cinema and, more recently, in the French audiovisual industry, will receive a French Cinema Award from Unifrance, during a ceremony at the French Ministry of Culture (by invitation). Created in 2016 by Unifrance, the French Cinema Award is designed to pay tribute to an international film industry figure who has worked to promote French cinema around the world. Particularly committed to the international promotion of his films, the actor has traveled very regularly in recent years with Unifrance, to meet foreign audiences and press.
An actor celebrated by the greatest French and international directors, Melvil Poupaud began his career as a child in the early 1980s under the aegis of director Raoul Ruiz, who for several years made him the central figure in a series of unique and unclassifiable films. Poupaud then crossed paths with other prestigious filmmakers, enabling him to broaden his range as an actor, notably Éric Rohmer who gave him the lead role in A Summer's Tale, a film that brought him to the attention of a wide popular audience and opened the doors to international recognition. The young actor went on to work under the direction of Jean-Jacques Annaud, Danièle Dubroux, Laurence Ferreira Barbosa, Marion Vernoux, Noémie Lvovsky, and James Ivory, before making another decisive encounter with François Ozon, and becoming one of the director's favorite actors. After Time to Leave (2004) came The Refuge (2009) Summer of 85 (2019), and By the Grace of God (2019), for which he was nominated for a César for Best Actor.
In 2011, his role as a transvestite in Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways brought him increased international exposure, which was to grow with standout roles in Justine Triet's In Bed with Victoria (2016), Carine Tardieu's The Young Lovers (2021), Arnaud Desplechin's Brother and Sister (2022), and more recently Valérie Donzelli's Just the Two of Us, présented at the Cannes Film Festival 2023 (Cannes Première section), in which he revealed a distinctly darker side to his acting, which he explored the same year in Woody Allen's Coup de Chance (2023), in which he plays one of the lead roles.
Also starring in the hugely successful OVNI(s) series, sold world wide, Melvil Poupaud is the epitome of the protean actor, both discreet and popular, open to the world, a key figure in French cinema and the audiovisual world, and a favorite with international audiences. He has been nominated for four César awards.
He will soon be appearing in Christophe Honoré's new film, Marcello Mio, as well as the political mini-series Dans l'ombre, directed by Pierre Schoeller and produced for France Télévisions, based on the novel by former French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.
The French Cinema Award is embodied in a trophy designed by Jean Lamore for Maison Daum.*
The French Cinema Awards since 2016
2016
- The producers Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam (Le Petit Prince)
- The Italian distributor Andrea Occhipinti (Lucky Red)
2017
- The actress Isabelle Huppert
- The German distributor Torsten Frehse (Neue Visionen)
- The Chinese distributor La Peikang (China Film Group)
2018
- The actress Juliette Binoche
- The director of the Chinese Cinémathèque Sun Xianghui
- The Spanish distributor Adolfo Blanco (A Contracorriente Films)
2019
- The directors Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano
2020
- The director Olivier Assayas
- Jane Shao, president and founder of Lumière Pavilions, a movie theater chain in China
2023
- The actress Virginie Efira
* 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). 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.
