The face of this year’s Women in Motion program is also the winner of its top prize. In partnership with Cannes, Kering will present the 2017 Women in Motion Award to Isabelle Huppert. The news comes after the “Elle” actress was named the official face of the third annual Women in Motion program.
“Isabelle Huppert has taken many artistic risks in her career, and whilst acting with leading names, she has successfully established her own style in a variety of registers ranging from drama to comedy. She has pushed back boundaries with the strong and far-from-stereotypical roles that she has played since the early days of her career,” a press announcement details.
As part of the honor, Huppert had the opportunity to select the recipient of the annual Young Talents Award. She named writer-director Maysaloun Hamoud, who will receive €50,000 (about $54,800 USD) to help finance future projects. Hamoud made her feature directorial debut with “In Between” (“Bar Bahar”), a drama centering on three Palestinian women living in Tel Aviv.
“The free-spirited and joyful women that [Hamoud] portrays, torn between their desire for emancipation and the traditions that sometimes stifle them, are true heroines of our time,” Huppert emphasized in a statement.
Last year, the Women in Motion Award was presented to Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. The “Thelma and Louise” stars chose Leyla Bouzid (“As I Open My Eyes”), Gaya Jiji (“Matin, midi, soir… et matin), and Ida Panahandeh (“Nahid”) for the Young Talents prize. The inaugural event saw Jane Fonda receiving the Women in Motion Award and selecting producer Megan Ellison (“Zero Dark Thirty”) as the Young Talents recipient.
Kering has also announced plans to team up with UniFrance in an effort to expand Women in Motion. According to Variety, the partnership “marks a key step forward” for the program. It will now have a stronger global presence and will be part of film events year-round. The alliance between Kering and UniFrance officially begins during the Cannes Film Festival. UniFrance managing director Isabelle Giordano is set to host a Women in Motion panel at the fest. After that, Women in Motion will be featured at UniFrance’s French Film Festival in Japan, which runs June 22–25 in Tokyo.
Cannes Film Festival will be held May 17–28. Check out our by-the-numbers fest breakdown here.
