La Vie Moderne claims Louis Delluc

The Louis Delluc prize which I thought was going to be bestowed on Laurent Cantet’s Palme D’or winner has actually gone to another Cannes-selected title in Raymond Depardon‘s La Vie Moderne. The prestigious award is given to the best French film of the year (and in an IONCINEMA.com interview with Cantet we got a feel for what that awards represents in France) and I imagine in the award’s history that it’s a rare sight to see a docu claim the prize. 

The film is a sort of self-portrait of Depardon, who hails from an agricultural background, and focuses on the old countryside villagers of Cervennes.

The Louis Delluc prize for best first film went to Samuel Collardey‘s L’Apprenti although it did not originally figure on the short list of nominated which you can see below.

Un Conte de Noel (A Christmas Tale) by Arnaud Desplechin*
Dernier maquis (Adhen) by Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche
Entre Les Murs (The Class) by Laurent Cantet*
L’Heure d’ete (Summer Hours) by Olivier Assayas*
Le Premier venu (Just Anybody) by Jacques Doillon
Seraphine by Martin Provost
La Vie moderne (Modern Life) by Raymond Depardon

Delluc first film prize:
Versailles by Pierre Schoeller,
Elle s’appelle Sabine (Her Name Is Sabine) by Sandrine Bonnaire;
Le Tueur (The Killer) by Cedric Anger.