Irène Jacob to Be Honored by Locarno Film Festival
French-Swiss film and theatre actor Irène Jacob, who has worked with many of Europe’s top directors, will be honoured by the Locarno Film Festival with its Leopard Club Award.
Jacob, who is originally from Switzerland, won the prestigious best actress prize at Cannes in 1991 for her part in Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “The Double Life of Véronique.” Kieslowski also directed Jacob in “Three Colours: Red,” one of her best-known films, along with Louis Malle’s “Au revoir les enfants” which marked her debut.
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Besides Kieslowski and Malle, Jacob has worked with multiple French and international auteurs, including Michelangelo Antonioni, Wim Wenders, Theo Angelopoulos, Agnieszka Holland, Paul Auster, Jonathan Nossiter and Hugh Hudson. She has also worked with Nadine Trintignant, Claude Lelouch, Serge Le Péron, Pascal Thomas, Riad Sattouf and Jacques Deray.
“Irène Jacob is one of cinema’s most mysterious and sublime presences. Her every performance manifests the elusive precision of a presence so completely identified with the film’s images as to become virtually part of the cinematography,” said Locarno artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro.
“Her skill in surrendering herself to the directors’ gaze and then, on the contrary, to vigorously embodying the character, taking charge of it, is the sign of a refined and knowingly instinctual art,” he added.
Jacob will be on the Swiss fest’s 8,000 seat Piazza Grande to receive the award on Aug. 9. Locarno, which is Europe’s preeminent fest dedicated to indie cinema, will be screening “Three Colours: Red,” as a tribute to Jacob who will also hold a master class on Aug. 10.
Previous recipients of Locarno’s Leopard Club Award include Faye Dunaway, Mia Farrow, Andy Garcia, Stefania Sandrelli, Adrien Brody, Meg Ryan, Hilary Swank, Kasia Smutniak and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
The 77th edition of Locarno will run Aug. 7-17.
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