15/12/2003

The Michel Simon Prize awarded annually to two actors who have made distinguished performances in French film productions have been announced. This 15th edition of the prize has been given to Dina Droukarova for Since Otar Left by Julie Bertucelli (the film awarded at Cannes 2003 Critics’ Week) and to Thiago Teles for Tiresia by Bertrand Bonello.

The jury, led by the actress Marilyne Canto, chose the winners of the 2003 edition of the prize from a shortlist that also included Morgan Marinne (Il figlio), Sasha Andrès (Elle est des nôtres), Anne Azoulay (Adieu pays), Nicolas Cazalé (Les chemins de l'Oued) and Clara Choveaux (another star of Tiresia).
Dina Droukarova was born in 1976 in St Petersburg and she already starred in around 10 films, dividing her working life between France and Russia. Droukarova is also in the cast of the film by Pascal Bonitzer, Small Cuts, and this prize should be a new boost for her career. The film by Bertucelli, distributed in France on September 17, was released in Italy on December 12 and it will also soon be in cinemas in Austria (January 9, 2004), the Netherlands (January 29) and in Germany on March 18.
The extraordinary performance in the role of the transexual Tiresia by Thiago Teles is his debut in cinema. This is a marvellous opportunity for the actor, also given that the film took part in the last Cannes Film Festival.

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(Translated from French)