The festival Prizes awarded to professionals
While the Lumière film festival brings together many artists, it is also an event that unites professionals working in both classic and contemporary cinema. To this end, three prizes are awarded each year: the Fabienne Vonier Prize, bestowed upon a woman in the film industry; the Raymond Chirat Prize, presented to a figure who endeavours to preserve the history of cinema; and the Bernard Chardère Prize, which recognises a professional in the realm of writing and publishing.
Jérôme Garcin
Bernard Chardère Prize 2025
Whether on the radio programme Le Masque et la Plume on France Inter, which he hosted for over forty years, or at the helm of the culture section of Le Nouvel Obs, Jérôme Garcin has been a trusted companion of cinephiles for decades.
After debuting his career at Les Nouvelles littéraires under the direction of Philippe Tesson, then at L'Événement du jeudi alongside Jean-François Kahn, he joined Le Masque et la Plume in 1980 as a literary critic, becoming its director and later its producer. In parallel, he is Editor-in-Chief of the culture pages of Le Nouvel Observateur (now Le Nouvel Obs).
Jérôme Garcin has authored a number of narratives and novels, mainly published in Gallimard's collection Blanche (a prestigious series known for its iconic white covers), including Olivier, which recalls the memory of his twin brother; Le Dernier hiver du Cid (winner of the Prix Deux Magots) on the final months of actor Gérard Philipe; and Des mots et des actes on the belles-lettres under the Occupation, published last year in the La Part des autres collection. He has received several literary awards, including the Prix Médicis essai and the Prix François-Mauriac presented by the Aquitaine region.
Meet Jérôme Garcin
Sunday, 12 October at 5 pm at the festival village
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ABOUT THE BERNARD CHARDÈRE PRIZE
Since a love of cinema can also be shared through the pages of books, biographies, coffee-table editions or film journals, the Bernard Chardère Prize is awarded annually to a distinguished critic, historian, author or publisher. The prize is named after writer and historian Bernard Chardère, who had made Lyon his lifelong home. He founded the film magazine Positif in the city in 1952 and served as the first director of the Institut Lumière in 1982… and he never left Lyon.
The first Bernard Chardère Prize was awarded to journalist and producer Jean-Jacques Bernard, a loyal ally of the Lumière film festival since its inception, and a generous presence when on the set of Radio Lumière or hosting festival guests. The prize was subsequently presented to Serge Kaganski (Les Inrockuptibles); Danièle Heymann (Marianne, Le Masque et la Plume on France Inter); Freddy Buache, founder of the Swiss Film Library, writer and historian; Editorial Director of Positif and renown cinema critic Michel Ciment; Eva Bettan, radio journalist and eloquent voice of France Inter; Lucien Logette, Editorial Director of Jeune Cinéma; Luc Lagier, creator of program Blow Up on Arte; journalists and film critics Laurent Delmas and Christine Masson for their radio show On aura tout vu on France Inter; Thierry Lounas, Editorial Director of the monthly magazine So Film, producer and distributor with Capricci; and Marie Sauvion, Deputy Editor-in-chief of cinema at Télérama.
Béatrice de Pastre
Fabienne Vonier Prize 2025
As the Director of Collections at the CNC (National Centre for Cinema), she oversees all activities related to the organisation’s holdings. She also provides support to film heritage institutions as part of the cooperation policy of the CNC and the Ministry of Culture.
From 1991 to 2006, in her role as Director of the Robert Lynen Film Library for the City of Paris, she conducted the inventory, cataloguing and description work of the archives (comprising 10,000 photographic works and 4,000 film titles accumulated since 1925) and undertook the digitisation of the institution's photographic collections.
A teacher and programmer, she is also the author of works on cinematographic and photographic heritage.
President of the Federation of Film Libraries and Archives of France between March 1998 and April 2002, she has been a member of the Editorial board of Revue Documentaires since September 2005.
Béatrice de Pastre is involved in numerous projects, including prestigious restorations, and is working alongside the Institut Lumière on the restoration of the Lumière heritage, as well as on the publication of an expanded and illustrated catalogue of the film productions of the A. Lumière and Sons company (1895-1905).
Meet Béatrice de Pastre
Tuesday, 14 October at 3 pm at the festival village
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ABOUT THE FABIENNE VONIER PRIZE
While there are big names in front of the camera, there are at least as many figures behind-the-scenes whose work deserves to be recognised. The Fabienne Vonier Award is presented each year during the Lumière film festival to a notable woman in the film industry, and is dedicated to the memory of Fabienne Vonier, co-founder of the production and distribution company Pyramide.
With the support of Fabienne Vonier's husband, producer Francis Boespflug, and her children, the first prize was awarded during the 2016 Lumière film festival to producer Margaret Menegoz and distributor Régine Vial, who have brought production and distribution of French and international arthouse films to new heights with Les Films du Losange, and in 2017, it was bestowed on the founders of production and distribution company Haut et Court, Carole Scotta and Caroline Benjo. In 2018, the prize was presented to producer Michèle Ray-Gavras for her important work in international film production; in 2019 to Véronique Cayla, then President of Arte and elected President of the César Awards; in 2020 to Sophie Seydoux, President of the Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation; in 2021 to Brigitte Maccioni, CEO of UGC, a producer and distributor; in 2022 to Michèle Halberstadt, co-director of ARP Sélection; and in 2023 to Anne-Laure Brénéol, co-director of Malavida. Last year, the prize was conferred upon Anna Marsh, Managing Director of Studiocanal.
Olivier Barrot
Raymond Chirat Prize 2025
A journalist, writer, producer and television host, Olivier Barrot is indissociable from Un livre, un jour, the daily show he presented on France 3 between 1991 and 2018.
First a producer for Gaumont, then at the helm of co-productions for TF1, he was concurrently a literary advisor to publishing houses Calmann-Lévy and Jean-Claude Lattès.
The producer of various programmes on France Inter, France Culture and Radio Classique, he has been a prominent voice on Radio France and has also appeared on Canal +, Public Sénat, Ciné-classics and TV5 Monde. Additionally, Olivier Barrot is the author of a literary column for Pleine vie magazine.
A renowned specialist on French cinema and a longtime friend of Raymond Chirat, he is the author of many works, mostly published in the collection Blanche, Gallimard’s prestigious literary imprint, including the recent Vaisseau fantôme and Portrait d'Itkine, as well as books on Sacha Guitry and Louis Jouvet, co-written with Raymond Chirat.
Meet Olivier Barrot
Thursday, 16 October at 6.45 pm at the festival village
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ABOUT THE RAYMOND CHIRAT PRIZE
Raymond Chirat was one of the most invaluable and inspiring fellow companions of the Institut Lumière. A historian of French cinema and an author, he founded the Library that bears his name in the heart of the Institute Lumière, bursting with his archives, press clippings, hand-written notes and other treasures. The Raymond Chirat Prize recognises a writer-historian-researcher in the history of cinema.
Pascal Mérigeau, journalist, critic and writer, received the first Raymond Chirat Prize in 2011 for his work on Jean Renoir. In 2015, the Prize was bestowed upon the AFRHC (‘French Association of Research on the History of Cinema’), given to its President Valérie Vignaux and co-founder Jean A. Gili; in 2016 it was awarded to filmmaker and film historian Paul Vecchiali; in 2017 to publisher and founder of Wild Side, Manuel Chiche; in 2018 to film music specialist Stéphane Lerouge; in 2019 to the distributor and founder of Carlotta, Vincent Paul-Boncour; in 2021 to the Director of the Cineteca di Bologna and the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, Gian Luca Farinelli; in 2022 to Alain Carradore, video publisher and founder of the Westerns de Légende collection. In 2023, the Prize was conferred upon Christine Leteux, essayist and translator of Kevin Brownlow's work (among others); and last year, it was attributed to Laurent Mannoni, Scientific Director of Heritage of the French Film Library, Director of the Conservatory of Cinema Techniques and exhibition curator.
