Juliette Binoche to Receive Maureen O' Hara Award

The Kerry Film Festival, which is celebrating eleven years of bringing film to Kerry, today announced that Juliette Binoche is to receive The Maureen O' Hara Award at the Kerry Film Festival, which runs from 30 October to 6 November. The award is named in honour of one of the most glamorous leading ladies of Hollywood’s golden era, Maureen O' Hara.

"We're absolutely delighted to award this year's Maureen O' Hara Award to Juliette Binoche. Juliette is an amazing actress whose talent has been recognised on the global stage. She has won a myriad of awards for acting all around the world, including the Venice Film Festival and this year's Cannes Film Festival. Juliette was also presented with an Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences," said Maureen O' Hara. "Juliette is, however, more than simply a stunningly beautiful woman and a brilliant actress; she has also displayed a devotion to a variety of good causes. I am absolutely delighted that Juliette will accept this award and I wish her the very best in her future career and, more especially, in life."

"The Kerry Film Festival is thrilled to present Juliette Binoche with the Maureen O' Hara Award," said Jason O' Mahony, Kerry Film Festival Director. "She is a wonderful actress and is a true leading light. In addition to her work in film she has worked tirelessly to overcome human rights abuses and is an active supporter of many worthy causes. Her role, in particular, in securing acclaimed Iranian director, Jafar Panahi's, release from prison earlier this year is worthy of mention. We're delighted that Juliette will be on hand to pick up the award at this year's Kerry Film Festival."

Juliette Binoche first attracted the attention of international film critics with THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING (1988). Roger Ebert, the world renowned film critic from The Chicago Sun-Times wrote that she was, "almost ethereal in her beauty and innocence."

Binoche, however, pushed the boundaries of her craft with an appearance in Louis Malle's DAMAGE (1992) and, a year later, in Krzysztof Kieslowski's THREE COLOURS: BLUE (1993), which was a massive critical success, garnering Binoche the César Award for Best Actress and the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actress.

After a sabbatical from film-making to become a mother in 1994, Binoche was selected as the heroine of France's most expensive movie ever, THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF (1995). Following that she won an Oscar ® for her role in THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996).

More recently she has starred in CACHÉ (2005), THE FLIGHT OF THE RED BALOON (2007) and CERTIFIED COPY (2010), for which she received the Best Actress Award at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, making her the first actress to win the three most prestigious European awards for acting.

While Maureen O' Hara was undoubtedly one of Hollywood's best loved actresses, she was much more than just a pretty face. When Maureen became an American citizen on January 25, 1946 she retained her Irish citizenship, which was the first time in history that the United States government recognized an Irish citizen as Irish and it led to a change in process for all Irish immigrants. Maureen was also the first female CEO of an American airline company. Whether in the movies, in politics or in business Maureen demonstrated a quality for leadership and a bravery that was extraordinary and Juliette Binoche displays many of the same characteristics.

The Maureen O' Hara Award acknowledges women that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their respective fields and Juliette Binoche is a most worthy recipient. The award giving will take place at the Kerry Film Festival Awards Ceremony in Siamsa Tíre in Tralee on Saturday, November 6th at 2:00 pm.

The Award Ceremony is the culmination of a week of films at Kerry Film Festival. The Awards ceremony will also feature the screening of award winning short films as adjudicated by Kerry Film Festival's panel of judges that include Oscar ® nominated producer, Noel Pearson, Oscar ® nominated director, Tomm Moore, double Golden Globe ® winner, Jane Seymour, and Oscar ® winning director James Marsh.