Virginie Efira to receive Leopard Club Award at Locarno Film Festival

The Locarno Film Festival will honor Belgian-born, France-based actress Virginie Efira with the Leopard Club Award.

Efira recently appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, where she starred in two films competing in the festival's main competition.

The films are "All of a Sudden" by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and "Parallel Tales" by Asghar Farhadi, CE Report quotes ANA-MPA.

The Locarno Film Festival is Switzerland's premier film festival and one of Europe's leading events dedicated to independent cinema.

Virginie Efira is a Belgian actress and television presenter, born on May 5, 1977, in Schaerbeek, Brussels-Capital Region. She became a naturalized French citizen in 2015.

From 1998 to 2009, she began her career as a television presenter in Belgium and later in France, notably hosting the Belgian and French versions of the talent show Nouvelle Star (on RTL-TVI in 2003 and on M6 and W9 from 2006 to 2008). She started her acting career in 2004 and devoted herself entirely to acting from 2008 onward.

In cinema, Efira initially gained recognition as the leading actress in romantic comedies such as It’s Better Together (2010), 20 Years Apart (2013), The Sense of Wonder (2015), and Up for Love (2016). She later made a successful transition to dramatic roles, starring in Victoria (2016), directed by Justine Triet, which earned her her first César Award nomination for Best Actress.

She further established herself with acclaimed performances in Bye Bye Morons (2020), directed by Albert Dupontel, Benedetta (2021), directed by Paul Verhoeven, Paris Memories (2022), directed by Alice Winocour, and Other People's Children (2022), directed by Rebecca Zlotowski.

After receiving five César Award nominations, Efira won the César Award for Best Actress in 2023 for her performance in Paris Memories. In 2026, she received the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in Suddenly, directed by Ryūsuke Hamaguchi. Among her other honors are two Magritte Awards.

Photo Instagram/efira_virginie