04/07/2014 - For the second time in the history of the Festival the Leopard of Honour will be awarded to a female filmmaker (after Kira Muratova in 1994)

Agnès Varda

The prestigious award of the 67th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, which will take place from 6 to 16 August, will be accompanied by a series of films that retrace Agnès Varda's career. The selection will range from the most well-known films like Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) or Vagabond (1985), to those yet to be discovered: Lions Love (...and Lies) (1996) or even Documenteur (1981), not to mention The Creatures (1966) with Michel Piccoli and the wonderful Catherine Deneuve. Given the diversity of stiles and techniques that define Agnès Varda's cinematography, additional films will also be shown: the short film Oncle Yaco (1967), the documentaries The Gleaners and I (2000) and The Beaches of Agnès a subtle self-portrait from 2008, as well as the latest TV series documentary in 5 episodes Agnès de ci de là Varda (2011).

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After paying tribute to some of the greatest directors of modern cinema like Jean Luc Godard, Ken Loach or even, the latest to date, Werner Herzog, the leopard of honour will this year go to one of the biggest personalities of French and international cinema. Eighty-six year-old Agnès Varda started out as a theatre photographer before making her directing debut in 1954 with La pointe Courte: Alain Resnais, another cornerstone of French cinema, edited the film. It was immediately renowned as one the most important works of a young French generation that was hungry for change, the future “Nouvelle Vague”.

Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director of the festival explained to us: “At a Festival that strives to be the home of independent cinema, granting Agnès Varda the Leopard of honour is not just due recognition to a key figure in modern cinema, it's also a clear sign of the road ahead.”

(Translated from Italian)