The Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation’s commitment to culture and diversity
In 2020, the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation, under the aegis of the Fondation de France, confirmed its position as a patron of young French-speaking creatives. It awarded 11 grants to professionals aged under 30 (35 for certain grants) in the fields of writing, digital technology, audiovisual media and music. For the 31st consecutive year, it provided financial support for those with ambitious and innovative plans, as well as giving them the time needed to successfully achieve their plans. These new talented professionals join the 320 who have already received grants from the Foundation since 1990. Some of these enjoyed great success in 2020. Pianist Laurent Coulondre (Musician winner 2016) won his second Victoire du Jazz prize in the Instrumental artist category. Alexandre Najjar (Writer winner 1990) was awarded the Grand Prix de la Francophonie 2020 by the Académie Française for his body of work. Lastly, Carole Scotta (Film producer winner 1992) produced the series No Man’s Land, watched by more than 2 million viewers on the Arte.tv platform before being shown on television channel Arte.
Because promoting cultural diversity remains central to its aims, the Foundation also supports literary meetings of the Institut du Monde Arabe and each year awards the Arab Literature Prize, allowing for voices that are not sufficiently supported to be heard. The 2020 award was won by Sudanese author Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin for Les Jango (Éditions Zulma). In this novel, which forced him into exile, the author explores the Sudanese Revolution.
The Foundation also continued to support the Lire pour en sortir association, which offers integration programmes through reading in prisons. In 2020, it set up a writing competition during the first lockdown for people in prison on the theme of “The epidemic is over, imagine what the world of tomorrow will be like”. The jury, chaired by Leïla Slimani, gave awards to three noteworthy compositions.
Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation 2020 grant winners (France).
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332 recipients have been awarded grants by the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation since 1990.