Presented by the award’s illustrious godmother Jessica Chastain, the Trophée Chopard recognised two up-and-coming talents in the world of international filmmaking: Jessie Buckley and Kingsley Ben-Adir.
Swiss luxury brand Chopard is the proud partner of the Cannes Film Festival – redesigning its prestigious Palme d’Or trophy, the highest prize awarded at the festival, in 1998. Co-president and artistic director Caroline Scheufele designed and crafted the stylised golden palm composed of 19 gold leaves resting on a single crystal rock, handmade in Chopard’s Haute Joaillerie ateliers.
Since 2014, the Palme d’Or has been crafted using ethical Fairmined-certified 18K yellow gold — marking Chopard’s commitment to sustainable luxury.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the sustainable luxury brand’s own esteemed award — created in 2001 by Scheufele. While most awards at Cannes focus on rewarding excellence in present cinema, the Trophée Chopard honours the best of tomorrow – rising stars in international cinema.
“My family and I have always been committed to perpetuating the artistic professions cultivated in our workshops,” says Scheufele of her company’s altruistic DNA. “Thanks to our initiatives, Chopard is a company acknowledged for its decisive role in training. It was therefore only natural to extend our concern for transmission to our commitment to cinema.”
Part of the 74th Cannes Film Festival’s official calendar, the Trophée Chopard 2021 rewards a female and male ‘revelation’ of the year, “enabling us to draw public attention to an actress and an actor who deserve to gain recognition in their field so as to launch their career,” says Scheufele.
An illustrious panel of cinema veterans form the jury, chosen jointly by Cannes Film Festival president Pierre Lescure, Thierry Frémaux, and Caroline Scheufele. On this year’s jury are Spike Lee, Mylène Farmer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Tahar Rahim, Song Kang-Ho, Elsa Zylberstein (Un certain regard jury) and French minister of culture Roselyne Bachelot.
This year’s award went to Irish actor-singer Jessie Buckley and British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, presented by actress Jessica Chastain at a star-studded dinner ceremony at the Majestic Hotel. A loyal supporter of the Cannes Festival, Chastain first debuted in Cannes in 2011 and has participated as a jury member since 2017, making her the perfect fit as Chopard’s patroness of the award.
The award’s illustrious godmother Jessica Chastain with Caroline Scheufele, Thierry Frémaux, and Cannes Film Festival president Pierre Lescure. 
Adrian Brody, Caroline Scheufele, and Paz Vega 
Kingsley Ben-Adir with Thierry Frémaux and Pierre Lescure 
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Caroline Scheufele, and Jessica Chastain 
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Jessica Chastain
Other distinguished guests present included Audrey Azoulay, Irène Jacob, Aïssa Maïga, Adrian Brody, Paz Vega, Dorra Zarrouk, Joséphine Japy, Benoît Magimel, Nicolas Maury, Zita Hanrot, Haley Lu Richardson, Nelly Auteuil, Daphne Patakia, Miyi Huang, Kogomada, Irène Jacob and Dadju.
Trophée Chopard’s recipients are often highly decorated in the years after winning – Marion Cotillard and Florence Pugh come to mind, as well as previous winners like Anya Taylor-Joy, Diane Kruger, John Boyega and James McAvoy. This year’s honoured rising stars are sure to be no different.
“In 20 years, we have helped detect many brilliant actors,” says Scheufele. “This is a great source of pride for our Maison, and a sign that we must continue this work in order to contribute to the history of tomorrow’s filmmaking.”
Marion Cotillard and Rodrigo Santoro, Trophée Chopard 2004 winners (Photo by Bruno Vincent/Getty Images) 
From left to right: Pierre Lescure, Caroline Scheufele, Juliette Binoche, Trophée Chopard 2016 winners Bel Powley and John Boyega, and Steven Gaydos 
From left to right: Charlize Theron, winners Trophée Chopard 2017 Anya Taylor-Joy and George MacKay, Caroline Scheufele, Pierre Lescure, and Steven Gaydos (Photo by David M Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Chopard) 
Francois Civil and Florence Pugh, winners of the 2019 Trophée Chopard
Buckley is currently filming in Canada and accepted her award remotely. Her film and television credits include lead in musical Wild Rose and psychological thriller I’m Thinking of Ending Things, as well as roles in drama miniseries Chernobyl and black-comedy cult series Fargo.
Ben-Adir has plenty of television credits under his belt including High Fidelity, Love Life and The Comey Rule (as President Barack Obama), as well as the starring film role as Malcolm X in Regina King’s One Night in Miami.
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