Posté le 27.06.2023

The passion for cinema can also be found between the pages of books, biographies, fine arts publications or film reviews. In this spirit, every year the Bernard Chardère Prize recognizes an illustrious critic, historian, author or publisher. The prize is named after the film critic and historian from Lyon Bernard Chardère, founder of Positif in 1952 and former managing director of the Lumière Institute in 1982... and who never left Lyon.

The previous Bernard Chardère Prize recipients

The first Bernard Chardère Prize was awarded to journalist and producer Jean-Jacques Bernard, a loyal presence at the Lumière festival since its inception. He gave his time generously, whether it was on the set of Radio Lumière or hosting festival guests. The prize was subsequently presented to Serge Kaganski (Les Inrockuptibles), Danièle Heymann (Marianne, Le Masque et la Plume- radio program on France Inter), Freddy Buache, founder of the Swiss Film Library, writer, historian. The prize was also conferred upon renown cinema critic Michel Ciment, editor of Positif, Eva Bettan, radio journalist and eloquent voice of France Inter, Lucien Logette, managing editor of Jeune Cinéma, Luc Lagier, creator of Arte's program Blow Up, journalists and film critics Laurent Delmas and Christine Masson for their radio show ‘On aura tout vu’ on France Inter and most recently Thierry Lounas, editorial directeur of the monthly review So Film. 

About Bernard Chardère

As a young graduate of the École Normale Supérieure, he founded the magazine Positif in Lyon in 1952. Bernard Chardère had surrounded himself with a group of cinema enthusiasts and critics, who were influenced by surrealism and progressivism, thereby giving birth to one of the most pivotal magazines of the film world. In 1958 he launched a collection of monographs on filmmakers, ‘Premier Plan’. Twenty years later, he served as general delegate of the Fondation nationale de la photographie, and in 1982, he became the first director of the Lumière Institute, while pursuing a rich career as an author, publishing several reference works on the Lumière brothers, French cinema dialogues or Jacques Prévert.


The Bernard Chardère Prize 2023 will be revealed soon. It will be awarded during the Lumière Festival (October 14-22, 2023).