Thank you for this ceremony!
 

PostED ON 19.10.2024

A standing ovation, a constellation of stars and declarations of love accompanied by song... On Friday evening, in an electric atmosphere, actress Isabelle Huppert received the 16^th Lumière Award at the Amphitheatre 3000.

© Institut Lumière / Photo : Olivier Chassignole

“And you sing, sing, sing that chorus that you like. And you clap, clap, clap, it's your way of loving”. The sight of American actor James Franco tapping along to the rhythm of the French 1980s hit ‘Nuit de folie’ (‘A Wild Night’) was definitely a first! From the very first notes of the retro tune, the Lyon audience leapt to their feet in unison to welcome the queen of the evening, Isabelle Huppert. Making her entrance, the actress didn’t skip a beat, doing a few playful dance steps to the song, while singing along to the track, one of her faves. To celebrate the artiste with the pheonomenal filmography, an A-list crowd of celebrities was in attendance: Anthony Delon, Emmanuelle Béart, Ludivine Sagnier, James Franco, Vincent Perez, Noémie Merlant and Camélia Jordana, to name but a few. After a triumphant beginning, Thierry Frémaux, Director-General of the Institut Lumière, proposed to kick off the ceremony with a video montage of previous Lumière Award recipients, from Clint Eastwood to Wim Wenders.

Ahead of receiving the prestigious prize, Isabelle Huppert, microphone in hand and visibly moved, thanked the audience for their enthusiastic welcome. Another video was shown, featuring highlights from the 15 years of the festival, including Quentin Tarantino's memorable proclamation of admiration to Jean-Paul Belmondo and a tribute to the sorely missed Bertrand Tavernier... not to mention the invaluable advice from Jane Fonda, 2018 Lumière Award laureate: “You have to listen with your heart!” At the opening ceremony of the founding edition, filmmaker Luc Dardenne had declared, this festival “is off to a great start!” The audience in Lyon certainly lived up to the Belgian director's prediction.

Then, in a softly glam ambiance, actress-singer Camélia Jordana took to the stage to perform a piano & vocals rendition of Gloria Gaynor's “I Will Survive”. It was her personal way of “giving back to Isabelle Huppert, for the luminosity she gives us with every film”... To get the crowd’s juices flowing, they watched the boxing scene from Chaplin's film ‘City Lights’, the perfect warm-up for a particularly musical tribute, continuing with actress Sandrine Kimberlain’s personal spin on the same opening song, “This rhythm that carries you into the night / Awakens a wind of folly in you, my Isabelle”! A few minutes before her coronation, the muse of Claude Chabrol (whom she affectionately referred to as “Chacha”), enjoyed hearing 'Ma préférence' played on the piano and sung by French singer Julien Clerc, who had made a special appearance for the occasion.

Next came a cascade of film clips selected from Isabelle Huppert's remarkable œuvre, featuring Clean Slate, Going Places, 8 Women, Heaven’s Gate, La Cérémonie, The Piano Teacher... For nearly fifty years, Huppert has worked with some of the most prominent names in cinema and has graced the lives of film fans the world over. “One of the mysteries of French cinema is called Isabelle Huppert [...] Isabelle is a voice against silent anguish; she wraps us in a blanket of tenderness, discreetly, mysteriously”, declared Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón (in English), with actress-director Noémie Merlant following his eloquent words (in French). The impressive duo presented the 16^th Lumière Award to Huppert, who, with genuine humility, was still wondering what she “did to deserve this”. After receiving the prize, she claimed, “I'd been told that the Lumière Award ceremony was a very special moment, but this is beyond what I'd imagined... and I have a vivid imagination!” She continued, stating, this “luminous moment will be a wonderful memory forever.” During her Master class at the Théâtre des Célestins earlier that day, Isabelle had mentioned that she should “come to Lyon more often for cinema therapy”. The door is wide open, dear Isabelle. And thank you for....this nuit de folie!

Laura Lépine