The 37th Chicago International Film Festival duly celebrated French cinema when it awarded the Golden Hugo to “Fat Girl” and the Silver Hugo to Nicole Garcia and Sandrine Kiberlain in “Betty Fisher and Other Stories”.
Catherine Breillat’s “Fat Girl” reaped the Gold Hugo for Best Feature Film, the festival’s top award, “for its fearless and uncompromising examination of sexual awakening”.
When it came to the Silver Hugo for Best Actress, the jury awarded Nicole Garcia and Sandrine Kiberlain “for their finely perceptive and inseparable performances within an immaculately crafted film”, Claude Miller’s “Betty Fisher and Other Stories.”
It should also be noted that many French coproductions were also celebrated at Chicago: “Millennium Mambo” by Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Taiwan/France) won a Silver Hugo; “What Time is It There?” by Tsai Ming-Liang (Taiwan/France) a Silver Hugo for Best Director, the Grand Jury Prize and the Special Jury Prize for Cinematography for D.P. Benoit Delhomme.
And last but not least, Koji Yakusho received the Silver Hugo for Best Actor for his performance in Shohei Imamura’s “Warm Water Under a Red Bridge” (Japan/France).
