Godard to receive Swiss film award in Geneva
French-Swiss film director Jean-Luc Godard has been chosen to receive the 2015 Swiss Film Honorary Award in March in Geneva.
The legendary, reclusive director is to receive the “Quartz” trophy at a presentation on March 13 by Interior Minister Alain Berset.
Godard has confirmed that he will be on hand to pick up the award, Susanne Goldschmid, deputy head of communications for the interior ministry, told swissinfo.ch.
He has in the past often stayed away from large public events such as the Cannes film festival and the Academy Awards, which awarded him an honorary Oscar.
The ministry announced on Thursday that Godard is receiving the award as one of the founding fathers and leading lights of the French New Wave. He also is to receive CHF30,000 ($32,373) in prize money.
Godard, who was born in Paris to a Swiss father and a French mother, first won international renown in 1960 for his first full-length feature Breathless, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg.
The 84-year-old director, a Swiss national since 1953, has made over 40 films and video experiments, including other well-received films such as Sympathy for the Devil and Goodbye to Language.
A selection of Godard’s films will be presented from March 9-15 in Geneva and Zurich film houses in parallel with the presentation of films competing for the Swiss Film Awards.
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