In a career spanning 25 years and boasting around 40 films, the actress has made a simple and subtle but undeniable impression on the French filmmaking scene. She first shot to prominence in The Patriots by Éric Rochant (winner of the Romy-Schneider prize) then confirmed those first impressions with En avoir (ou pas) by Laetitia Masson (César for Most Promising Actress). Since then, she has continued to make an impact far and wide, taking risks in her stride and turning her hand with ease to dramas (Mademoiselle Chambon), quirky comedies (9 Month Stretch, César for Best Actress), arthouse films (False Servant) and mass-market films (Little Nicolas).
Following on from Wim Wenders, Tim Roth, Abbas Kiarostami and more recently Agnès Varda and Sabine Azéma, Sandrine Kiberlain and her jury members will award the Caméra d’or prize at the Closing Ceremony of the Festival de Cannes on Sunday 28 May. Since 1978 the award has gone to Stranger than Paradise by Jim Jarmusch (1984), Suzaku by Naomi Kawase (1997), The White Balloon by Jafar Panahi (1995), Hunger by Steve McQueen (2008) and Beasts of the Southern Wild by Benh Zeitlin (2012). Last year, Houda Benyamina won the Caméra d’or for her film Divines screened in the Directors’ Fortnight.