Thursday, September 10: Susan Sarandon, an Icon in Deauville, and a Day Dedicated to the Next Generation

Thurs­day, Sep­tem­ber 10 will undoubt­ed­ly stand out as one of the high­lights of the 52^nd Deauville Amer­i­can Film Fes­ti­val. A day filled with cin­e­ma, emo­tion and trans­mis­sion, led by an excep­tion­al guest: Susan Saran­don, recip­i­ent of the Deauville Icon Award.

Susan Sarandon: “Iconic Forever”

The Queen has arrived in Deauville.

A major fig­ure in Amer­i­can cin­e­ma, Susan Saran­don was cel­e­brat­ed through­out the day, cul­mi­nat­ing in the pre­sen­ta­tion of the Deauville Icon Award, hon­or­ing an extra­or­di­nary career and a per­son­al­i­ty who has left an indeli­ble mark on the his­to­ry of cinema.

It was a deeply mov­ing moment, height­ened by the actress’s heart­felt speech before the Deauville audi­ence. A few words, a great deal of emo­tion, and an entire the­atre unit­ed in cel­e­brat­ing an artist whose per­for­mances, com­mit­ments and fierce­ly inde­pen­dent spir­it have res­onat­ed across generations.

The cer­e­mo­ny, held at 8 p.m. at the C.I.D, was the day’s spe­cial “Séance Étoile” event. It was fol­lowed by the pre­miere of The Accom­pa­nist by Zach Woods, in the pres­ence of the director.

Ear­li­er in the day, Susan Saran­don took part in anoth­er of the Festival’s most cher­ished tra­di­tions. At 3 p.m. on Deauville’s icon­ic Board­walk, she unveiled the beach hut that will now bear her name.

A par­tic­u­lar­ly mean­ing­ful Deauville tra­di­tion: her name now joins those of the many great fig­ures of cin­e­ma hon­ored over the years along the famous Planches.

Susan Saran­don, Deauville Icon Award 2026. Icon­ic forever.

The Jury in Front of the Camera on Deauville Beach

Anoth­er high­light of the day saw the Fes­ti­val Jury come togeth­er for a spe­cial pho­to shoot on Deauville Beach.

With the sand, the sea and the icon­ic Board­walk as a back­drop, the pho­to shoot brought the Jury mem­bers togeth­er in one of the loca­tions most close­ly asso­ci­at­ed with the Fes­ti­val. It was an ele­gant yet relaxed moment, cap­tur­ing the dis­tinc­tive spir­it of Deauville.

The result­ing images of the Jury on the beach add anoth­er mem­o­rable snap­shot to this year’s Fes­ti­val — a set­ting where cin­e­ma quite lit­er­al­ly meets the sea.

12 Screenings and a Day of Major Festival Events

Beyond the trib­ute to Susan Saran­don and the Jury pho­to shoot on the beach, Thurs­day, Sep­tem­ber 10 con­tin­ued the Festival’s packed pro­gramme with 12 film screen­ings across the C.I.D, Casi­no and Morny 2.

At the C.I.D, audi­ences were invit­ed to dis­cov­er The Lib­er­a­tion of Rita Coop­er by Guy Nat­tiv and Com­pa­ny by Casey Affleck — pre­sent­ed in the pres­ence of Casey Affleck and Caylee Cow­an and fol­lowed by a con­ver­sa­tion with the film team — as well as The Child­hood of a Leader by Brady Cor­bet, in the pres­ence of Bérénice Bejo. The evening cul­mi­nat­ed in the trib­ute to Susan Saran­don and the screen­ing of The Accom­pa­nist.

Mean­while, the Casi­no host­ed four screen­ings: The Whale by Dar­ren Aronof­sky, Test by Sam McConnell, Par­ty USA by Jared Sprouse and Only What We Car­ry by Jamie Adams.

At Morny 2, audi­ences could attend screen­ings of Grem­lins, l’Amérique par­a­sitée, Once Upon a Time in Harlem, I’ll Be Gone in June and The Man I Love by Ira Sachs.

The day in num­bers: 12 film screen­ings, 3 venues, major events cel­e­brat­ing Susan Saran­don, a Jury pho­to shoot on Deauville Beach, and an entire day devot­ed to bring­ing films, artists and audi­ences together.

415 Students Welcomed to the Festival

But the day was not only about spot­lights and the red carpet.

Along­side its offi­cial pro­gramme, the Fes­ti­val con­tin­ued to ful­fil one of its essen­tial mis­sions: open­ing the world of cin­e­ma to younger gen­er­a­tions.

Through­out the day, 415 high school and high­er edu­ca­tion stu­dents from 12 schools and groups across the region were wel­comed to the Fes­ti­val. Some attend­ed screen­ings at the C.I.D, while oth­ers took part in activ­i­ties spe­cial­ly organ­ised as part of their visit.

From Lycée Marie-Jo in Trou­ville and Lycée André Mau­rois to Lycée Fer­di­nand Buis­son, Lycée Guil­laume le Con­quérant, Lycée Dumont d’Urville, Lycée Saint-Thomas‑d’Aquin, Lycée Notre-Dame Saint-François, Lycée Jeanne‑d’Arc in Bayeux, Lycée Aris­tide Briand and Lycée Dela­mare Debout­teville, as well as E2SE and the Insti­tut de l’Événement, this strong par­tic­i­pa­tion reflects the Festival’s com­mit­ment to mak­ing cin­e­ma a space for dis­cov­ery, encoun­ters and transmission.

415 young audi­ence mem­bers in a sin­gle day: behind that fig­ure are hun­dreds of new per­spec­tives dis­cov­er­ing films, film­mak­ers, actors and the behind-the-scenes world of a major cul­tur­al event.

A Day Connecting an Icon with a New Generation

Per­haps this is one of the most pow­er­ful images to emerge from Thurs­day, Sep­tem­ber 10 in Deauville.

On one side, Susan Saran­don, an extra­or­di­nary fig­ure in Amer­i­can cin­e­ma, cel­e­brat­ed on the Board­walk and lat­er on the C.I.D stage for a career that has become tru­ly iconic.

On the oth­er, 415 high school and high­er edu­ca­tion stu­dents, invit­ed to dis­cov­er the Fes­ti­val and expe­ri­ence the unique col­lec­tive mag­ic of cinema.

And on the beach, the Jury gath­ered in front of the cam­era, with the sea and Deauville as their backdrop.

Dif­fer­ent gen­er­a­tions, dif­fer­ent per­spec­tives on cin­e­ma, all brought togeth­er over the course of a sin­gle day.

A day that per­fect­ly cap­tures the spir­it of Deauville: cel­e­brat­ing those who have writ­ten the his­to­ry of cin­e­ma, bring­ing togeth­er those shap­ing it today, and inspir­ing new gen­er­a­tions to write its next chapter.