Virginie Efira will receive the Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) Award for Screen Artistry at the festival’s 49th edition, organizers announced. The actor is honored for her performance in “All of a Sudden,” which screens at the festival.
Efira shared the Cannes Film Festival award for best actress earlier this year with co-star Okamoto Tao for the same film. “All of a Sudden” marks the French-language debut of director Hamaguchi Ryusuke (“Drive My Car”). In the film, Efira plays Marie-Lou, who runs a care facility outside Paris and pushes for gentler treatment of its elderly residents. A chance encounter with a Japanese playwright, played by Okamoto, sets off a friendship that grows into a reflection on mortality, human connection and mutual obligation.
“Virginie Efira gives a performance of extraordinary grace and quiet power in ‘All of a Sudden,’ grounding its expansive ideas about career, capitalism and politics in our shared humanity and expressing the profound mystery of human connection. We are honored to recognize her with an MVFF Award,” said Rose Kuo, MVFF’s artistic director.
Mark Fishkin, founder and director of the festival, called “All of a Sudden” a deeply life-affirming film that reminds audiences human beings need each other not just to thrive, but simply to exist. “That’s a message worth sharing with our audience, and Virginie Efira brings it to life with extraordinary heart,” he said.
Efira has also won a César Award, for Alice Winocour’s “Paris Memories,” and has starred in Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” and “Benedetta,” as well as Justine Triet’s “In Bed with Victoria” and “Sibyl.”
MVFF49 takes place Oct. 1-11 across venues in Marin County and the Bay Area. The festival is presented by the California Film Institute, a nonprofit that also runs the DocLands Documentary Film Festival. Efira’s honor comes through MVFF’s Spotlight program, which recognizes standout work by film artists at any stage of their careers.