Katell Quillévéré, Joachim Lafosse and Sébastien Lifshitz rewarded at the 2 Valenciennes festival

Their new films Le Temps d’aimer, Un Silence and Madame Hoffman won over festival-goers. Just like William Lebghil, rewarded for The Life of My Mother.

The 2 Valenciennes festival had this year again a very eclectic program, and his track record reflects this selection. Alex Vizorek hosted the closing ceremony last night, under the sponsorship of Claude Lelouch, and the two juries delivered their verdict: that of the works of fiction, chaired by the director Stéphane Brizé (surrounded by Aure Atika, Olivia Côte, Vincent Elbaz, Marie Gillain, Éric Gravel and Clémence Poésy), and that devoted to documentaries, chaired by journalist Serge Moati.

Among the winners are already recognized filmmakers, such as Katell Quillévéré (Repair the living), Joachim Lafosse (The Intranquilles) and Sébastien Lifshitz (Little girl).

Here are the details of these two prize lists.

The Winners in the Fiction category are:

– The Teachers’ Room by ílker Çatak, won the Grand Prix
While a series of thefts take place in the teachers’ lounge, Carla Nowak leads the investigation in the college where she teaches. Very quickly, the entire establishment is shaken by his discoveries.

– Time to love by Katell Quillévéré received the Jury Prize
1947. On a beach, Madeleine, waitress in a hotel-restaurant, mother of a little boy, meets François, a rich and cultured student. Between them, it’s obvious. Providence. If we know what she wants to leave behind by following this young man, we discover over time what François is trying to flee by mixing Madeleine’s destiny with his own…

– Patricia Lopez Arnaiz won the Best Actress Award for 20,000 species of bees by Estibaliz Urresola Soluguren
Lucía, six years old, is a little girl born in a boy’s body. She calls herself Aitor and is looking forward to the end of the school year. Ane, his mother, in the midst of a professional and emotional crisis, will take advantage of the holidays to go with her three children to her parents, where her mother and her aunt Lourdes live. This life-changing summer will force these women from three different generations to be honest with themselves and decide how they want to continue to present themselves to the world.

– William Lebghil received the male performance prize for My mother’s life by Julien Carpentier, film which was also honored with the Audience Award
Pierre, 33, a successful florist, sees his life turned upside down when his mother, Judith, fanciful and excessive, arrives in his life after two years of not seeing each other. Pierre has only one idea, to return to the normal course of his life, but nothing goes as planned. Their reunion, as unexpected as it is explosive, will transform Pierre and Judith forever.

– A silence by Joachim Lafosse was honored with the critics’ prize, tied with The Teachers’ Room by İlker Çatak
Silent for 25 years, Astrid, the wife of a famous lawyer, sees her family balance collapse when her children set out in search of justice.

– The student prize goes to Levante by Lillah Halla
Sofia, a promising 17-year-old volleyball player, learns she is pregnant the day before a championship that could seal her fate. Not wanting this pregnancy, she seeks to have an illegal abortion and finds herself the target of a fundamentalist group determined to prevent her from doing so at all costs. But neither Sofia nor those close to her intend to submit to the blind fervor of the masses.

The Winners in the Documentary category are:

– Stone, leaf, gun by Maciek Hamela received the grand prize, the critics’ favorite prize and the student prize
A Polish vehicle travels the roads of Ukraine. On board, people were evacuated following the Russian invasion. The van becomes a fragile and transitory refuge, a zone of confidences and confessions of exiles who have only one objective, to escape the war.

– The jury prize was awarded to The Mother of All Liesby Asmae El Moudir
Seeking to untangle a web of family lies, filmmaker Asmae El Moudir recreates the neighborhood of her childhood in Casablanca with a model and figurines. Through his own history and that of his loved ones, the wounds of a country emerge and the forgotten History of Morocco is revealed.

– Sébastien Lifshitz was honored with the critics’ prize for Mrs. Hoffman
” Welcome to my life “, this sentence, Sylvie Hofmann repeats it all day long or almost. Sylvie has been a nursing manager for 40 years at the northern hospital in Marseille. His life is running. Between patients, her mother, her husband and her daughter, she has always devoted her days to others. What if she decided to think about herself a little? To retire? Does she have the right, but above all does she really want it?

– The public prize goes to Césaria Evora, the barefoot divaby Ana Sofia Fonseca
– Cesária Évora sings her title Soda in 1992, earning her international recognition at age 51. Long a simple bar singer in Cape Verde, the legend we know has not always known glory if not poverty. A profoundly free, generous and well-rounded woman, the “Barefoot Diva” finally knew how to make her music shine across the world while remaining faithful to her Cape Verde, consecrating her as Queen of Morna and Queen of Hearts.

For more details, go to the 2 Valenciennes festival website