« My father would be very happy to be with us tonight. »
 

PostED ON 18.10.2025

Michael Mann receives the Lumière Award

Isabelle Huppert, Prix Lumière 2024, remet le Prix Lumière 2025 à Michael Mann
© Léa Rener

The American director made his appearance in the amphitheatre in Lyon, microphone in hand, and kicked off the evening by thanking the audience. He was soon entertained by a montage of previous Lumière Award recipients, including Pedro Almodóvar, Jane Fonda, Catherine Deneuve and Quentin Tarantino, the latter of whom had sent him a message: ‘I couldn't make it, but I say to Michael Mann, “Welcome to the Lumière Awards club!”’ Then, with a nod to Ali, everyone was treated to the Lumière brothers' recently restored film Boxing Match in a Barrel, as well as the film shot in 1897 in Chicago, Michael Mann's hometown.

After the rendition of the song We Shall Overcome  by Seeger, performed by Camélia Jordana, Isabelle Huppert, the Lumière Award honouree 2024 addressed the filmmaker: Tonight ‘we honour a man whose vision continues to reinvent the lumière (light). Your cinema carries a rare intensity, with the gaze of an eye that never tires. Your cinema lives within us, constituted of an inexhaustible quest for the truth. Each of your films is a world unto itself. This Lumière Award is in recognition of your audacious trajectory. May the light be with you, Michael Mann, and long live cinema!’

The hour has arrived for Michael Mann to receive his award and say a few words : ‘Now I understand why great filmmakers are speechless when they come to Lumière. It represents a moment of human communion around our incredible art. It’s a unique festival that endeavours to celebrate the 7th art. Being here tonight, amongst you, makes me think of how lucky I am to practise an artistic profession that feels like very personal work. In 40 years, nothing has changed in my impulse to make films. When I think back on everything that has made me the artist I have become, of all the elements that have come together in me, the first is obviously music: Presley, Chuck Berry... I am extremely honoured and grateful to receive this wonderful award. My father came to France during WWII to fight. He would be very happy to be with us tonight.’

Laura Lépine