Virginie Efira to Be Honored by Locarno Film Festival

The Locarno Film Festival will celebrate Virginie Efira, the Belgian-born, France-based, actress who was recently in Cannes with lead roles in two competition films: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of A Sudden” and Asghar Farhadi’s “Parallel Tales.”

Efira will be feted by the Swiss fest, which is Europe’s preeminent event dedicated to indie cinema, with its Leopard Club Award. She will receive the prize on Aug. 7 when “All of a Sudden,” for which Efira won acting honors in Cannes – and for which she learned to act partly in Japanese – will screen in the lakeside town’s 6,500 seat outdoor Piazza Grande venue.

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In a statement, the fest noted that Efira’s career trajectory has been marked by “memorable turns” in works by Dutch director Paul Verhoeven and by ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ filmmaker Justine Triet.”

“In Verhoeven’s ‘Elle’ (2016), and especially in ‘Benedetta’ (2021), “Efira demonstrated a willingness to inhabit provocative, demanding characters whose thorny complexities resist easy categorisation,” the statement said. “Her extraordinary performances in Triet’s ‘Victoria’ (2016) and ‘Sibyl’ (2019) likewise confirmed that gift and, along with a handful of other remarkable films of that period, secured her status as one of the rising stars of modern European cinema,” it added.

Commented Locarno Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro: “Virginie Efira brings a unique sensibility to her roles as a performer. Bold yet thoughtful, instinctive yet ironic, she offers contemporary cinema a fresh perspective that continually reinvents itself. From working with Verhoeven to Hamaguchi and beyond, she has consistently explored her artistic potential, revealing a talent that evolves with freedom and vitality. Efira captures the beauty of what it means to be an actress in today’s cinema.”

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 79th edition of Locarno will run Aug. 5-15.