Locarno: Director Bruno Dumont to Receive Lifetime Achivement Award

French director Bruno Dumont is set to receive the Locarno Festival’s lifetime achievement award, the Pardo d’onore Manor. He will accept the prize at the famed outdoor Swiss cinema, the Piazza Grande, on Aug. 4 with the world premiere of his new miniseries Coincoin et les z’inhumains, a comedic police caper about an extraterrestrial discovery.

Dumont was born in Bailleul in the French part of Flanders. His two-decades-long career has produced numerous controversial and thought-provoking films that explore the existence of evil or mystery in everyday life. 

His first film, The Life of Jesus (1997), earned him a Cesar nomination for best film, and a special mention for Camera d’or at Cannes in the Directors’ Fortnight section. His second film, Humanite (1999), won the Grand Prix at Cannes. Dumont won his second Grand Prix at Cannes for his 2006 film Flandres. 

In 2012, he collaborated with Juliette Binoche on Camille Claudel 1915, a biopic about the noted French sculptress, which was presented at the Berlinale.

His latest film, Jeannette, the Childhood of Joan of Arc, based on a play by Charles Peguy, premiered last year in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. 

“Bruno Dumont is one of those directors who best typify 21st century cinema. His films are deeply rooted in philosophical, literary and film tradition and yet are forward-looking at the same time,” Locarno artistic director Carlo Chatrian said in a statement.

“They are the best possible riposte to those who claim that the cinema has nothing left to discover,” he continued. “His films are essays on men and women, on the absurdity intrinsic to existence, but also on the eternal problem of evil. They are also exhortations not to cease thinking about such issues, even when the noise from the images all around us becomes deafening.”

Previous recipients of Locarno’s lifetime achievement award include Jean-Luc Godard, Ken Loach, Sydney Pollack, Jia Zhang-ke, Agnes Varda, Marco Bellocchio, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Todd Haynes.

The 71st Locarno Festival is set to run Aug. 1-11. 

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