French actress Isabelle Huppert is set to receive the Volta Award at next year's Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF).
Taking place from 22 February to 2 March 2024, the festival will bring a plethora of movies from around the world to Dublin cinemas, including a gala screening of the much-anticipated adaptation of John McGahern's That They May Face the Rising Sun.
Acclaimed star of French cinema Isabelle Huppert will receive the festival's career achievement award, the Volta, named in honour of Ireland's first dedicated cinema in Dublin, established by James Joyce in 1909.
Previous Volta Award recipients include Daniel Day-Lewis, Al Pacino, Kristin Scott Thomas and Thierry Frémaux. Huppert will be presented with the Volta at a special 'In Conversation' event, and there will also be a screening of her new film, Sidonie au Japon, directed by Elise Girard.
With a film career spanning six decades, Huppert is renowned as being one of France's hardest-working and most accomplished actors. From early roles such as Claude Goretta's The Lacemaker, for which she received the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer, through to her numerous roles working across different genres with Claude Chabrol, she has received scores of awards for her work, including France's highest honour, the Légion d'Honneur.
Huppert's recent cinema roles include Mia Hansen's Love's Things to Come, Michael Haneke's Happy End, Neil Jordan's Greta, and Anthony Fabian's Mrs Harris Goes to Paris.
She also starred in Paul Verhoeven's Elle for which she won a César, US Gotham Award, Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress.
Festival Director Gráinne Humphreys said: "One of the finest actors of her generation, Isabelle Huppert has made an indelible impression on world cinema, her fearless performances, boundless curiosity and incredible work rate has defined modern French cinema. We relish the opportunity with our Festival audience to celebrate her career and her immense talent in presenting her with our Volta Award in person in Dublin."
Capturing a year in the life of a rural, lakeside community in Ireland in the 1970s, That They May Face the Rising Sun is an adaptation of the final novel from McGahern.
The film tells the story of Joe and Kate Ruttledge who have returned from London to live and work in a small, close-knit community near where Joe grew up. Now deeply embedded in life around the lake, the drama of a year in their lives and those of the memorable characters around them unfolds through the rituals of work, play and the passing seasons.
Director Pat Collins said: "It's a huge honour for us that the Irish premiere of That They May Face the Rising Sun is the closing film for next year's DIFF. We have a long association with the festival and have had many special screenings there over the years and are delighted to be showing it here first."
The full festival line-up will be announced in January.
For more on the Dublin International Film Festival, see diff.ie.
