Paris-based foreign correspondents presented their 10th Lumiere Awards, which each year honor the best of French film production, at a ceremony held Wednesday February 16 at the Cinéma des Cinéastes.
France's equivalent of the Golden Globes, the "Académie des Lumières," whose membership is made up of 200 media representatives from some fifty countries, was founded in 1995 on the initiative of Daniel Toscan du Plantier and the American Newsweek journalist, Edward Behr.
The award for Best Film of 2004 went to "Chorists" by Christophe Barratier (also released as "The Chorus" and "The Choir"), an Academy Award nominee in the Foreign-Language Film category.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet was voted Best Director for "A Very Long Engagement."
Emmanuelle Devos and Mathieu Amalric, stars of "Rois et Reine," both Cesar nominees in 2005, were named Best Actress and Best Actor for 2004.
The awards for Most Promising Newcomers went to Lola Naymark in "A Common Thread," Marilou Berry in "Look at Me" (also released as "Like an Image") and Damien Jouillerot in "Les Fautes d'orthographe."
The "Lumières" trophy for Best French Language Film was awarded to "Tomorrow We Move" by Chantal Akerman.
The ceremony was organized in partnership with the Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Unifrance, the Paris City Hall, the international French-language television channel TV5, The Polish Institute, the SODEC-Quebec and International Critics' Week.
For all further information, contact:
Christian Rioux, President of the Académie des Lumières: (33 1) 40 30 09 14
Grazyna Arata, Secretary General of the Académie: grazyarata@aol.com
