Prix d’Ornano-Valenti

Dur­ing the Award Cer­e­mo­ny of the Deauville Amer­i­can Film Fes­ti­val, the 2021 Prix d’Ornano-Valenti is giv­en by Jean-Noël Tronc, Pres­i­dent of the Fran­co-Amer­i­can Cul­tur­al Fund along with a rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the MPA, and Jean-Guil­laume d’Ornano, Pres­i­dent of the Jury of the Prix d’Ornano-Valenti com­posed of Anglo-Sax­on jour­nal­ists, to the first fea­ture film Mag­net­ic Beats direct­ed by Vin­cent Maël Cardona.

Cre­at­ed in 1991 by the mem­ber com­pa­nies of the Motion Pic­ture Asso­ci­a­tion (MPA) and ded­i­cat­ed to the mem­o­ry of Michel d’Ornano, for­mer French min­is­ter, may­or of Deauville and co-founder of the Deauville Amer­i­can Film Fes­ti­val, the Michel‑d’Ornano Award hon­ors a French first film in order to help sup­port its wider recog­ni­tion, pro­mo­tion and exportation.

Since 2009, the Prix d’Ornano-Valenti is sup­port­ed by the Fran­co-Amer­i­can Cul­tur­al Fund.

In 2015 the prize renamed the Prix d’Ornano-Valenti in mem­o­ry of Jack Valen­ti, for­mer CEO of MPA, the found­ing father of this com­pe­ti­tion, and as a trib­ute to the friend­ship between the two men, their fam­i­lies, and their shared ded­i­ca­tion to the Deauville Amer­i­can Film Festival.

Found­ed in 1996, the Fran­co-Amer­i­can Cul­tur­al Fund is a unique part­ner­ship between the Direc­tors Guild of Amer­i­ca (DGA), the Motion Pic­ture Asso­ci­a­tion (MPA), the French Soci­ety of Authors, Com­posers and Pub­lish­ers of Music (SACEM) and the Writ­ers Guild of Amer­i­ca West (WGAW). It pro­motes cul­tur­al exchange between France and the Unit­ed States of Amer­i­ca around a shared pas­sion for film and tele­vi­sion and those who cre­ate it.

« The FACF is proud to sup­port cin­e­mato­graph­ic cre­ation, artis­tic influ­ence and cul­tur­al exchanges between our two coun­tries by shar­ing a com­mon pas­sion for cin­e­ma. It is the aim of the action we lead dur­ing icon­ic fes­ti­vals, such as Deauville or COLCOA, the Los Ange­les French Film Fes­ti­val cre­at­ed in 1997 which is today the first event ded­i­cat­ed to French cin­e­ma out­side of France. »

Jean-Noël Tronc, Sacem CEO / Fran­co-Amer­i­can Cul­tur­al Fund President

« As a for­mer US Ambas­sador to France, I know first­hand how cul­tur­al ties and exchanges can pos­i­tive­ly impact the bilat­er­al rela­tion­ship. I am very proud of the work we are doing togeth­er with the FACF. France and Amer­i­ca have a com­mon pas­sion; we know that films can bring sto­ries, cul­tures and shared val­ues to audi­ences. I look for­ward to con­tin­u­ing to devel­op our exchanges that strength­en the unbreak­able bonds between our two nations. »

Charles Rivkin, Chair­man and CEO of the Motion Pic­ture Asso­ci­a­tion (MPA) / Fran­co-Amer­i­can Cul­tur­al Fund Board Member

3,000 Euros are grant­ed to the award­ed direc­tor, 3,000 Euros to the pro­duc­tion com­pa­ny and 10,000 Euros to the French dis­trib­u­tor to help pro­mot­ing the film.

1998 Louise (Take 2) Siegfried
1999 Home­town Blue Stéphane Brizé
2000 Le Secret Vir­ginie Wagon
2001 Pret­ty Things Gilles Paquet-Brenner
2002 Hyp­no­tized and Hys­ter­i­cal (Hair­styl­ist Want­ed) Claude Duty
2003 Since Otar Left Julie Bertucelli
2004 A Com­mon Thread Eléonore Faucher
2005 Lit­tle Jerusalem Karin Albou
2006 Blame It on Fidel Julie Gavras
2007 La Vie d’artiste Marc Fitoussi
2008 John­ny Mad Dog Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
2009 Silent Voic­es Léa Fehner
2010 Angel & Tony Alix Delaporte
2011 17 Girls Del­phine Coulin & Muriel Coulin
2012 Hold Back Rachid Djaïdani
2013 Me, Myself and Mum Guil­laume Gallienne
2014 Num­ber One Fan Jeanne Herry
2015 Les Cow­boys Thomas Bidegain
2016 Willy the 1^st Ludovic Boukher­ma, Zoran Boukher­ma, Marielle Gau­ti­er & Hugo P. Thomas
2017 Mont­par­nasse Bien­venüe Léonor Serraille
2018 Lit­tle Tick­les Andréa Bescond & Éric Métayer
2019 Les Mis­érables Ladj Ly
2020 Slalom Char­lène Favier