Quentin Tarantino received another prize in France Friday night during the Lumiere Festival in Lyon. He was presented the Prix Lumiere in recognition of his overall contribution to film over the past two decades. The event was attended by several actors who have worked with him, including Uma Thurman, who handed him the award.
Thurman, who starred in both Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bill movies, told the audience that Tarantino’s work is “like an explosion of dynamite,” reports the Daily Mail. She received a standing ovation from the crowd as she approached the stage.
Tim Roth, who also appeared in Pulp Fiction, started the event with curses before producers Lawrence Bender and Harvey Weinstein spoke, reports the Hollywood Reporter.
“My first company, Miramax, was the house that Quentin built, and my second company, The Weinstein Company, is the house that Quentin saved,” Weinstein said. He called the director “tough minded and tough, but really one of the most compassionate human beings I know.”
Deadline notes that Tarantino is one of the most celebrated filmmakers in France today, which is no surprise. After all, France launched his career when Pulp Fiction won the Palme D’Or in Cannes in 1994. Some of the 3,000 invitees had even paid to be at the event, receiving t-shirts.
“I don’t really have words for how I feel right now. This may be one of the first few times that’s ever happened to me,” Tarantino said. “This is just a very, very overwhelming experience.”
Tarantino did not forget the importance of Lyon, the home of the Lumiere brothers, who invented cinema in 1895. “I don't know where I would be if the Lumiere brothers' mother and father had never met,” he said, notes THR. “Probably somewhere selling 'Royale with Cheese.'”
The director’s most recent film is Django Unchained, which won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in February. It was the second for Tarantino, following his win for Pulp Fiction in the same category.
image: Wikimedia Commons
