With three awards, including the Grand Prix, the black comedy “LaRoy” succeeds “Aftersun” on the list and is presented as the big winner of the 49th Deauville American Cinema Festival.
End clap for the 49th American Film Festival of Deauville. An edition which was held in a very special context, while the actors’ and screenwriters’ strike is still paralyzing Hollywood.
With the exception of the Briton Emilia Clarke, the Anglo-Saxon stars were conspicuous by their absence on the boards. But independent cinema was well represented by the fourteen films in Competition, and their teams who came to talk about it with the public and the press.
Among these feature films, it was LaRoy by Shane Atkinson who triumphed, winning the Grand Prize awarded by Guillaume Canet and his jury. But not only.
Presented on Wednesday September 6, this thriller full of dark humor which earned its director Shane Atkinson comparisons to the Coen brothers, left Deauville with a total of three awards. And the significant feat of having managed to please the jury, the public and the critics.
Currently without a French release date or distributor, this first feature film is one unit ahead of the strange and astonishing The Sweet East by Sean Price Williams, which won over both juries. This rereading of Alice in Wonderland in today’s America leaves with the Revelation Prize, awarded by the team led by Mélanie Thierry, and one of the two Jury Prizes.
Like every year, the jury could not bring itself to award only two trophies, and therefore had a tie. The Sweet East thus shared its prize with Fremont, a drama about a young Afghan refugee directed by Iranian director Babak Jalali.
Finally, note that the Ornano-Valenti Prize, awarded to a first French film, with the aim of helping its recognition, promotion and export, was awarded to Nothing to lose by Delphine Deloget. Having passed through Cannes, this drama starring Virginie Efira will be released on November 23 in our cinemas.
Deauville 2023: the complete list of winners
- Grand Prize: LaRoy by Shane Atkinson
- Ex-aequo Jury Prize: Fremont by Babak Jalali
- Ex-aequo Jury Prize: The Sweet East by Sean Price Williams
- Critic’s Prize: LaRoy by Shane Atkinson
- Audience Award: LaRoy by Shane Atkinson
- Revelation Prize: The Sweet East by Sean Price Williams
- Ornano-Valenti price: Nothing to Lose by Delphine Deloget
And see you from September 6 to 15, 2024 to blow out the 50 candles of the Deauville American Cinema Festival!