Locarno festival honours James Gray with career lifetime award
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The Locarno Film Festival will present US director James Gray with its Pardo alla Carriera lifetime career award, honouring a body of work rooted in his upbringing in New York's Russian-Jewish community. The tribute coincides with a screening of Gray's latest film, "Paper Tiger," at the festival's outdoor Piazza Grande venue, reflecting his continued standing as one of American cinema's most distinctive voices.
Gray collected acclaim early, winning the Silver Lion at Venice for "Little Odessa" at just 25, and went on to build a career spanning crime dramas, family portraits and more recently science fiction and adventure films such as "Ad Astra" and "The Lost City of Z." He will receive the award on 9 August and present "Paper Tiger," which premiered at Cannes in May and stars Miles Teller and Adam Driver as brothers entangled with the Russian mob in 1980s Brooklyn; the film will also open the 64th New York Film Festival on 25 September. Locarno will additionally screen his earlier works "We Own the Night" (2007) and "Two Lovers" (2008) as part of the tribute, with artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro describing Gray as "the last great novelist of American cinema."
- Locarno festival to give James Gray lifetime career award
- Gray to present new film "Paper Tiger" on 9 August
- Festival will also screen two of his earlier films
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James Gray is an American film director known for character-driven dramas and, more recently, big-budget adventure and science fiction films. He grew up in New York within a Russian-Jewish immigrant community, a background that has shaped much of his work, and he made an early breakthrough at just 25 when his film "Little Odessa" won a top prize at the Venice Film Festival. Since then he has built a body of work spanning crime stories, family dramas and films such as "Ad Astra" and "The Lost City of Z."
The Locarno Film Festival, held annually in Switzerland, is one of the longer-running film festivals in the world and is known for celebrating auteur directors alongside more mainstream cinema. Its Pardo alla Carriera is a lifetime achievement award given to figures the festival considers to have made a lasting mark on film. Locarno's outdoor Piazza Grande screenings, held in the town's main square, are among its best-known events.
Gray's newest film, "Paper Tiger," stars Miles Teller and Adam Driver as brothers caught up with the Russian mob in 1980s Brooklyn, and had already premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May before its Locarno showing. The film is also set to open the New York Film Festival later this year, underlining the level of attention it is drawing within the industry.
More coverage
- The Hollywood Reporter — Locarno to Honor James Gray, “the Last Great Novelist of American Cinema,” With Career Leopard
- Deadline — James Gray To Receive Locarno’s Honorary Career Pardo Award
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Originally published by Variety as “James Gray to Be Honored With Locarno Film Festival Career Award”.