Putting emphasis on the independence of mind, the originality and the quality of a filmmaker, the 72nd Jean Vigo Prize was given to Louise Courvoisier for Holy Cow [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] “for the way it reinvests the teen movie with joyful vitality, brazenly guiding its young actors to a striking truth and freedom”. It’s the ninth time in the history of the prize that a woman wins and Louise Courvoisier joins the ranks of, amongst others, Jean-Luc Godard, Maurice Pialat, Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol, Bruno Dumont, Olivier Assayas, Noémie Lvovsky, Patricia Mazuy, Katell Quillévéré, Laurent Cantet, Xavier Beauvois, Alain Guiraudie, Mathieu Amalric and Alice Diop.

Produced by Muriel Meynard for Ex Nihilo and co-produced by France 3 Cinéma and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Holy Cow is the debut feature of a young director (30 years old) who studied at the Cinéfabrique and was awarded the Cinéfondation prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival with her short film Mano a mano. The film follows Totone (18 years old) who spends most of his time drinking beer and drifting into balls around the Jura region with his group of friends, but reality catches up to him: he must take care of his 7-year-old little sister and find a way to make a living. He then becomes determined to make the best comté cheese in the region, the one with which he’d win the golden medal at the agricultural competition and 30,000 euros. The film was unveiled last May in the Un Certain Regard programme of the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Youth Prize before taking home the Diamond Valois Award at the Angouleme Francophone Film Festival. Its release in French theatres is planned for 11 December by Pyramide Films (who also drives international sales).

Also worth mentioning that an Honorary Vigo Prize was awarded this year to Palestinian director, writer and actor Elia Suleiman and that the Short Film Jean Vigo Prize went to a self-produced documentary: Car Wash by Laïs Decaster.