French director Jacques Audiard was given Award for Future Films, special Festival honour. This year’s retrospective programme is dedicated to the famous director. Audiard was announced as a man who “revived genre film, putting it in a wider social context, focusing on complex and realistic characters. His achievements are recognized by critics, great festivals and audience at the same time.”
Before the awarding ceremony, as a tradition of the Festival, an homage was given to the French director. The ceremony included an editing sequence consisting of frames from all seven feature films by Jacques Audiard, accompanied by music. The music from the films was performed by a band gathered particularly for this occasion. Fragments of film scores by Alexander Desplait, but also of pop and hip-hop tracks used in Audiard films were performed
The award was presented by Professor Emir Kusturica, describing the laureate as “somebody who makes cinema great and irresistible, somebody who is standing exactly on the line in which our festival is fighting, which is a line in between audience and critics, somebody who keeps going on in the best possible way.”
Audiard thanked Professor Kusturica and other participants of the ceremony, saying that: “such an award has particular significance coming from a man who had made so many good films.”