Namur Fest honours Huppert
It has become a tradition for the Namur International Francophone Film Festival to invite – to the delight of audiences – a star of Francophone film, or rather a Francophone film star. The event has previously honoured legendary actors Jean Rochefort, Jean-Claude Brialy and Philippe Noiret, followed by a trio of great actresses: Sandrine Bonnaire, Emmanuelle Béart and Kristin Scott-Thomas. This year, Isabelle Huppert will receive the honours of the FIFF “Coup de Cœur”.
The actress will meet audiences during the opening weekend of the FIFF and present six works of her choice that are representative of her filmography. The selection is timely, as the festival will open with Home [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kacey Mottet Klein
interview: Thierry Spicher
interview: Ursula Meier
film profile], the debut feature by director Ursula Meier, which won acclaim at Cannes Critics’ Week. Huppert stars in the film alongside Olivier Gourmet (the Belgian actor is, incidentally, the honorary president of the Festival).
The five other films to be screened include Claude Goretta’s The Lacemaker (1976), Claude Chabrol’s Nightcap (2000), Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2000), Olivier Dahan’s Ghost River (2001) and Joachim Lafosse’s Private Property [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] (2006).
The festival thus has a busy schedule lined up for Huppert, who will also be seen in Cambodian director Rithy Panh’s The Sea Wall (adapted from Marguerite Duras’ eponymous novel and co-produced by France’s CDP and Belgium’s Scope Pictures), and Claire Denis’ White Material. Both films are strong contenders for selection at the forthcoming Venice Film Festival and are set to be released in theatres before the end of 2008.
(Translated from French)
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