Agnes Varda and JR’s documentary film Faces Places (Visages Villages) has taken the Golden Eye prize, which recognizes a documentary from across all sidebars.
The film screened out of competition in the official selection.
The prize was awarded by a jury of French actress Sandrine Bonnaire, Oscar-nominated The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom director Lucy Walker, Oscar-nominated The Gatekeepers director Dror Moreh, Toronto Film Festival programmer Thom Powers and film critic Lorenzo Codelli.
“Our jury has been deeply moved by Agnes and JR’s decision to meet local people, aimed by this movie-tale about consideration for Human throughout Art. This combined perspectives, are delicate and generous,” the jury said.
The documentary follows the two directors as they travel through rural France in a van photographing and interviewing rural and working-class people. JR is best known as a graffiti artist and street photographer.
The jury also awarded an honorable mention to Emmanuel Gras’ Makala, which took the top prize in the Critics’ Week.
The Golden Eye, or L’Oeil d’Or, is awarded to the best documentary across all official selections with the French Writers Society. It was initiated in 2015 with the support of the festival and awards the winning director €5,000 prize.
