By Nicole Goesseringer Muj
Author, director, producer, distributor and exhibitor Marin Karmitz, founder of MK2, will be honored for his 50 year career in cinema at the Dinner for Professionals on May 11 during Cannes 2018.
Karmitz has produced more than a hundred films, distributed nearly 400 films, assembled a catalog of over 600 titles, and created a cinema network in France and Spain. He has been awarded with more than 40 prizes for his work, including three Palmes d’or, three Golden Lions at Venice, a Golden Bear at Berlin, three Oscar nominations and twenty-five Césars.
Pierre Lescure, President, Festival de Cannes comments “In this anniversary year of May 1968, of which he is one of the heirs, we wish to honor Marin Karmitz whose work, commitment and tireless defense of auteur cinema we will salute.”
Karmitz has shown his commitment to contemporary creation and his interest in visual arts, particularly in photography, which led him to design exhibitions. His film essay Nuit Noire Calcutta (1964), based on a screenplay by Marguerite Duras, and Comédie, which he directed in 1966, adapted from a play by Samuel Beckett, have created a bridge between the various disciplines.
Karmitz has worked with some of the greatest directors in the history of filmmaking, including Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol, Louis Malle, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Pavel Lounguine, Theo Angelopoulos, Gus Van Sant, Jacques Doillon, Hong Sang-soo, Michael Haneke, Olivier Assayas, Xavier Dolan and Abbas Kiarostami.
His 1972 film Coup pour coup (Blow for Blow) will be presented on May 11 as part of the Cannes Classics program.
