Mathilda MAY

President of the Jury
Writer/director and actress

Mathilda May

President of the Jury
Writer/director and actress

Mathilda May composes all the arts she practises with grace and elegance, colouring her repertoire with a multitude of variations. After winning first prize in classical dance at the Paris Conservatoire, she turned to acting and made her film debut in 1984. Her performance in Claude Chabrol’s Le Cri du Hibou (1988) won her the César for Best Emerging Actress and the Prix Romy Schneider.

In 1995, she sang the French voice of Pocahontas for Disney. On stage, Bernard Murat directed her in Harold Pinter’s Le retour (1994), alongside Jean-Pierre Marielle, Patrick Chesnais, François Berléand, Roger Dumas and Guillaume Depardieu. In 1992, she collaborated with British and American composers on an album that earned her a nomination at the Victoires de la Musique awards. In 1997, she composed the music for the play Le roman de Lulu.

In 2008, after writing a novel published by Flammarion (Personne ne le saura), she launched the show Plus si affinité, which she performed and co-wrote with Pascal Légitimus.

In 2008, after writing a novel published by Flammarion (Personne ne le saura), she launched the show Plus si affinité, which she performed and co-wrote in tandem with Pascal Légitimus.

She has performed Thomas Winterberg’s Festen, la suite at the Théâtre National de Nice, the Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris and the Théâtre des Célestins in Lyon, directed by Daniel Benoin.

In 2013, she created Open Space, a play without words for which she is the author, director and composer, at the Théâtre Jean Vilar in Suresnes.

In 2016, she directed a hip hop ballet, Trio, as part of the “Suresnes Cité Danse” festival, as well as an evening of readings as part of the “Paris Des Femmes” festival.

In 2018, she acted in a series for C8 with Ahmed Sylla, and her first autobiographical story, V.O., was published by Plon. Her second show, Le Banquet, premiered as the season opener at the Théâtre du Rond-Point and won two Molières (public theatre direction and female revelation for Ariane Mourier).  At the same time, she wrote and directed Monsieur X for Pierre Richard (Best Single Act at the Molières 2020 and SACD prize for direction).

In 2022, she created Echos with singer/rapper/beatboxer Sly Johnson at the Granit national stage, which was revived as part of the Les Singuliers festival at Le Centquatre and is currently on tour. In October 2022, she presented Make Up at the Studio Marigny in Paris, her fifth show. A tour is scheduled for late 2023