The Lumière Award was created to celebrate an outstanding filmmaker, in Lyon, the very place where the cinematograph was invented by Louis and Auguste Lumière, and where they shot their first film, Workers Leaving the Factory, in 1895. After Clint Eastwood, Milos Forman, Gérard Depardieu, Ken Loach and Quentin Tarantino, Pedro Almodóvar received the Lumière Award for his rich filmography, for his intense passion for the cinema that characterizes his work and for the audacious vitality he brings to the screen. Multiple Oscar laureate and Cannes Film Festival winner, Pedro Almodóvar started his career in the early 1980s and has directed 19 movies since then.

On the occasion of the Award ceremony, Girard-Perregaux honored Pedro Almodóvar by presenting him with a Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 watch, highlighting the crucial role that time plays in his movies, transforming the characters, their desires and their nature.

Through this partnership, Girard-Perregaux supports the Lumière Institute in its mission to preserve and promote the cinematographic patrimony. The Brand has committed to actively support the art of filmmaking. Late in 2012, Girard-Perregaux announced it would be the Exclusive Timekeeper and a Founding Supporter of the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, to be located in Los Angeles and slated to open in 2017. 

About the Lumière Film Festival

The Lumière Film Festival is held annually in Lyon, France since October 2009. The festival, organized by the Institut Lumière and intended to celebrate the art of cinematography and its history, is presided by Bertrand Tavernier and directed by Thierry Frémaux. With a specific focus on restored movies, the festival brings together both filmmakers and film lovers and offers a contemporary experience of classic masterpieces. This year the Lumière Award honors movie director Pedro Almodóvar for the whole of his work.