French comedy ‘Camembert’ takes top honour at Monte-Carlo Film Festival

The French comedy Camembert, directed by Matthieu Rumani and Nicolas Slomka, has won the top award at the 23rd Monte-Carlo Film Festival de la Comédie, which concluded at the Grimaldi Forum on Saturday, November 14.

Starring Kristin Scott Thomas, the film explores family relationships, secrets and misunderstandings, using a seemingly ordinary game of Trivial Pursuit to reveal deeper tensions between relatives.

The jury, chaired by Italian filmmaker Fausto Brizzi and including Paul Belmondo, Vanessa Incontrada and Yvonne Sciò, selected the film as the festival’s overall winner.

Italian director Niccolò Gentili received Best Direction for Dov’è la Fiesta?, a contemporary romantic comedy starring Linda Caridi and Francesco Carril.

German production Agnes & Amir, directed by Helena Hufnagel, secured three awards. Bardo Böhlefeld was named Best Actor, Katharina Thalbach Best Actress, while the film also received the Audience Award. It is inspired by the real-life story of Agnes Jeschke and Amir Farahani.

The Best Short Film award went to Serenade, directed by Eulalie Elsker.

The closing ceremony also honoured two major figures in European cinema. French filmmaker Luc Besson received the MCFF Legend Award, earning a standing ovation. Reflecting on his five decades in filmmaking, he reaffirmed his commitment to writing screenplays by hand, despite the growing influence of artificial intelligence.

Italian actor and director Sergio Castellitto received the 2026 MCFF Award for Lifetime Achievement. In his speech, he paid tribute to his wife, writer Margareth Mazzantini, and recalled the professional influence of Marcello Mastroianni and Michel Piccoli.

Other distinctions recognised Vanessa Incontrada for her contribution to cinema and television, Yvonne Sciò for her documentary work, Fausto Brizzi with the MCFF Comedy Award and Paul Belmondo with the MCFF Exploit Award.

Festival director Ezio Greggio also received a newly created award from Italian magazine Gente, presented by its director Umberto Brindani in recognition of his 23 years leading the event.

Singer Yuman, winner of Sanremo Giovani in 2021, performed his latest single Space during the gala, as well as a rendition of My Way.

The festival ran from November 11 to 14 at the Grimaldi Forum. Conceived and directed by Greggio, it takes place under the High Patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II and the Italian Embassy in Monaco.

Image courtesy of S. Chiappalone-MCFF26: Greggio