2014 Prix Louis-Delluc Winners

I'm delighted to share with you all the most wonderful surprise when I learn that the most prestigious French Cinema award this years went to a movie that I highly enjoyed: Sils Maria (Clouds of Sils Maria) by Olivier Assayas and starring two of my favorite actress, Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart. Big congrats to Assayas and his outstanding movie with the most successful tête-à-tête between two women and one character.

Also the Best First Film goes to a movie with an actress that I have been following her career since she was in the first Céline Sciamma film, Naissance des Pieuvres, Adèle Haenel in Les Combattants by Thomas Cailley that won almost all the prizes in the Directors' Fortnight section of 2014 Cannes.

Winners are in *BLUE.

Adieu au Langage (Goodby to Language 3D), Jean-Luc Godard
Au bord du Monde (On the Edge of the World), Claus Drexel (documentary)
Bird People, Pascale Ferran
Eastern Boys, Robin Campillo
Saint Laurent, Betrand Bonello
*Sils Maria (Clouds of Sils Maria), Olivier Assayas
Timbuktu, Abderrahmane Sissako
Trois Coeurs (Three Hearts), Benoît Jacquot

Prix Louis-Delluc Best First Film

*Les Combattants (Fighters), Thomas Cailley
Mercuriales, Virgil Vernier
Mille Soleils (A Thousand Suns), Mati Diop
Mouton (Sheep), Gilles Deroo and Marianne Pistone
Party Girl, Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger et Samuel Theis
Tonnerre, Guillaume Brac

Comments from November 27, 2014
Today organizers of the most prestigious movie award in France announced the eight (8) films that are in competition to win the award that last year went to Abdellatif Kéchiche's La vie d'Adèle and the six (6) films that will compete for the Best First Film.

Perhaps is only me, but my own spontaneous impression is that 2014 French Cinema was all about 2014 Cannes which is not bad but it is highly unusual as French Cinema is much more than whatever films are screened in Cannes. Perhaps this year's French Cinema was "slow" (or "commercial"? - top money making French movie was Luc Besson's Lucy). Sigh.

The winners will be announced on December 15 at Fouquet in Paris; the announcement usually is made by Gilles Jacob that no longer is the Cannes Festival president but still belongs to the group that selects the winners.

There are too many films in this list that I have not seen yet, but of course most are must be seen for me.