Isabelle Huppert to receive honorary Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival

PTI, Dec 16, 2021, 8:23 PM IST

Los Angeles: Veteran French star Isabelle Huppert will be the recipient of an honorary Golden Bear at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival next year, the organisers announced Thursday.

The film gala will also premiere Huppert’s latest film, ”About Joan”, as a Berlinale Special Gala, as announced Wednesday. According to Deadline, the screening will be held in conjunction with the award ceremony on February 15, 2022, when Huppert will receive the award.

Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian said they are ”proud” to welcome the 68-year-old acclaimed actor back to the festival. She has featured in the Berlinale’s Competition seven times.

”The Honorary Golden Bear may seem like a natural progression in a career without equal, since Isabelle Huppert is one of the few artists recognised with acting awards at all major film festivals. But Isabelle Huppert is more than a celebrated actor – she is an uncompromising artist who doesn’t hesitate to take risks and flout mainstream trends. ”Awarding her our most prestigious prize is to accentuate cinema as an art form, independent and unconditional. We often see actors as tools in the hands of filmmakers, but Isabelle Huppert is a clear example that the dynamic can be a true exchange. Actors can be the true engine of creating not only emotions, but also concepts of cinema,” Rissenbeek and Chatrian said in a joint statement.

The Berlinale’s Homage section will also be dedicated to Huppert where seven of her films: ”The Lacemaker”, ”Every Man For Himself”, ”La Ceremonie”, ”The Piano Teacher”, ”8 Women”, ”Things To Come”, and ”Elle” will be screened.

Huppert has had a long and glittering career in showbiz, performing on screen and stage and across multiple languages including French, German and English. She has collaborated with directors including Jean-Luc Godard, Michael Haneke, Bertrand Tavernier, Claude Chabrol, Olivier Assayas, Catherine Breillat, and Paul Verhoeven, among others.

Huppert has been nominated for France’s Cesar prize more than any other actress (16) and has won twice. She won a Golden Globe for her turn in Paul Verhoeven’s 2016 thriller ”Elle”, a part for which she also received her first Oscar nomination.