Fellini Gold Medal to Pierre Rissient
French film producer, Pierre Rissient received the 2002 Unesco Fellini Gold Medal for his “exceptional contribution to spreading international awareness of world cinema.” Rissient, 66, has enjoyed an ecletic career in films; he is a film distributor and programmer through his ‘Mac-Mahon’ cinema in Paris, was first assistant to Jean-Luc Godard in 1960 and worked in PR alongside Bertrand Tavernier also during the 60s. Rissient was a champion and fierce defender of the work of cineatest like Fritz Lang, Joseph Losey, Claude Sautet, Claude Chabrol as well as younger latter day talents like Alain Tanner, Ken Loach, Mike Keigh, Robert Altman and John Boorman.
In 1982 Rissient directed Cinq et la peau, presented in « Un Certain Regard » in Cannes. He has also worked in the fields of film production, distribution and as an official film selector for numerous festivals, a position he used well to introduce audiences to new films from all over the world. In the early seventies, he was instrumental in introducing Asian cinema to Western and European audiences.
Rissient is currently employed as a producer at Pathé where he is producing Jane Campion’s new film. The pair first worked together on The Piano. Pierre Rissient is one of the most important and well-respected “behind-the-scenes” figures of the world film industry and a close friend of his, Clint Eastwood, sent a special letter congratulating Rissient on this important award and paying tribute to his immense contribution to the film industry.
(Translated from French)
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