Known for her portrayals of cold, austere women, Isabelle Huppert is considered one of the greatest actresses of her generation. After dedicating a major portion of her life to the cinematic industry, the 71-year-old actress Isabelle Huppert will be honored at this year’s Lumière Festival in Lyon with the prestigious Lumière Award for her contribution to cinema. “Her career encompasses an immense part of the history of contemporary cinema,” the Institute Lumière, which oversees the festival, said of the French star.
Huppert’s Lumière Award will take its place alongside a trophy case of other honors, including two Cannes best actress prizes — for “Violette Noziere” (1978) and “The Piano Teacher“ (2001)—two Venice Volpi Cup awards, for best actress in “A Story of Women” (1988) and “La Cérémonie” (1995), and a best actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Verhoeven’s “Elle.” The French actress will be the jury president at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
In every role, whether comedy, thriller, or art house drama, the Institut Lumière noted that Huppert turns every character she plays into “a singular enigma that she enriches with her genuineness and irony.”
Thierry Frémaux, director of the Institut Lumière and delegate general of the Cannes Film Festival, launched the Lumière Film Festival in 2009. The 16th edition runs from October 12–20.
Isabelle Huppert’s iconic journey in the film world
With 16 nominations and two wins, Huppert is the most nominated actress at the César Awards. She is also the recipient of several accolades, including five Lumières Awards, a BAFTA Award, three European Film Awards, two Berlin International Film Festivals, three Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival honors, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award nomination.
For her performance in “Elle,” Huppert was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won several critic awards as well as a Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award. Huppert is among international cinema’s most prolific actresses, with her best-known English-language films including “Heaven’s Gate” (1980), “The Bedroom Window” (1987), “I Heart Huckabees” (2004), “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” (2013), “Louder Than Bombs” (2015), “Greta” (2018), “Frankie” (2019), and “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” (2022).
A prolific stage actress, Huppert is also the most nominated actress for the Molière Award, with nine nominations. Moreover, she received an honorary award in 2017 and the Europe Theatre Prize in the same year.
Huppert’s theatre credits include Heiner Müller’s “Quartett” (2009) in New York, Sydney Theater Company’s “The Maids” (2014), and Florian Zeller’s “The Mother” (2019) in New York.
