Virginie Efira said she welcomed the controversy around Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta”, arguing that sharply divided reactions are preferable to polite, uncritical applause. Speaking at Locarno while receiving the Leopard Club Award, she said she trusted Verhoeven and was proud to have committed herself fully to the film, despite protests and offence caused by its depiction of a nun’s relationship with another nun.

Efira said the film’s lesbian sex scenes did not concern her, recalling that she simply replied “No problem” when Verhoeven described them. She also defended his work, calling “Showgirls” an incredible film, and discussed similarly intense preparation for Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden”, for which she won an award at Cannes in May alongside Tao Okamoto after studying Japanese for the role.