The Lumière Award

Since 2009, the Lumière Award has recognized a cinema personality for his or her entire body of work and relevant role in the history of cinema. This artist is celebrated in Lyon, the birthplace of the Lumière Cinematograph, on the very site of its invention: Rue du Premier-Film (First Film Street).

Presented every October during the Lumière festival, in the presence of many artists and 3,000 festivalgoers in the grand hall of the Cité Internationale Congress Centre, the Lumière Award is distinguished by the calibre of its laureates and the resulting media impact. Despite its relatively recent existence, the award's international scope and prestigious list of recipients have given rise to aspirations of becoming a “Nobel Prize” in cinema. As quoted in the press: ”it has become one of the world's most highly-regarded awards and is often compared to a Nobel Prize in Cinema.”

Clint Eastwood was the first to receive the Lumière Award on October 17, 2009. He has since been succeeded by Milos Forman (Czechoslovakia), Gérard Depardieu (France), Ken Loach (United Kingdom), Quentin Tarantino (États-Unis), Pedro Almodóvar (Spain), Martin Scorsese ((United States), Catherine Deneuve (France), Wong Kar-wai (Hong-Kong), Jane Fonda (United States), Francis Ford Coppola (United States), Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne (Belgium), Jane Campion (New Zealand) and Tim Burton (United States).

This year, Wim Wenders will receive the Lumière Award on Friday, October 20, 2023.

Created by Thierry Frémaux, the Lumière Award is a distinction reflecting time, gratitude and admiration in order to express our appreciation to the artists of the cinema who fill our lives. It was in part inspired by the 1992 visit to Lyon by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who, a few seconds after his arrival, wished to know the exact location where Louis Lumière had placed his camera to film Leaving the Factories. Standing upon the emblematic site, he closed his eyes and exclaimed, “Thank you, Lumière.”

Since then, hundreds of filmmakers have passed through the doors of Rue du Premier-Film, making it a “world-site” and a rediscovery of the memory of the history of cinema.

The Lumière festival will be held from Saturday the 14th to Sunday the 22nd of October in Lyon and its metropolitan area. Organized every year by the Institut Lumière team and supported by the Metropolis of Lyon and the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region, as well as by numerous private partners, the Lumière festival has established itself as an essential worldwide event that honours the vitality of international film. In 2022, the event brought together 180,000 people.

	Tim Burton Lumière Award 2022		Jane Campion Lumière Award 2021
	Jean-Pierre and Luc Darenne Lumière Award 2020		Francis Ford Coppola Lumière Award 2019
	Jane Fonda Lumière Award 2018		Wong Kar-wai Lumière Award 2017
	Catherine Deneuve Lumière Award 2016		Martin Scorsese Lumière Award 2015
	Pedro Almodovar Lumière Award 2014		Quentin Tarantino Lumière Award 2013
	Ken Loach Lumière Award 2012		Gérard Depardieu Lumière Award 2011
	Milos Forman Lumière Award 2010		Clint Eastwood Lumière Award 2009