Jordan Firstman’s directorial debut Club Kid capped a triumphant festival run over the weekend, winning the Grand Prix and the City of Deauville Audience Award at the 52nd Deauville American Film Festival. The film, which A24 will release in theaters later this year, had already emerged as one of the standout discoveries at Cannes earlier this year, and the double win in Normandy cements its status as one of 2026’s buzziest indie debuts.
The jury, chaired by singer and actress Lio and including filmmakers Roschdy Zem, Cécile de France and Euzhan Palcy, split its Jury Prize between Méli-Mélo, an animated feature from first-time director Leah Nelson, and If I Go Will They Miss Me, written and directed by Walter Thompson-Hernández. Méli-Mélo also picked up the Critics’ Prize, giving the coming-of-age story — set in 1990s San Francisco and voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Seth Rogen and Samira Wiley — a rare double citation. Thompson-Hernández’s film centers on a boy in a neighborhood near Los Angeles International Airport trying to rebuild a relationship with his father after his release from prison.
Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s Mouse, starring Katherine Mallen Kupferer as a teenager grappling with the sudden loss of her best friend, took the festival’s Revelation Prize. Sam McConnell’s Test, adapted from a semi-autobiographical script by lead actor Brock Yurich, won the Canal+ Prize for best film, marking McConnell’s fiction feature debut. On the French side, Marine Atlan received the Prix d’Ornano-Valenti for La Gradiva, which opens in French theaters October 21.
Beyond the awards, Deauville drew an unusually starry crowd to the Normandy coast across its ten-day run. Faye Dunaway and Susan Sarandon received Icon Awards, while Sophie Thatcher and Patrick Schwarzenegger were honored as rising stars. Catherine Deneuve made a surprise appearance, and Casey Affleck arrived with his new feature Company. Ira Sachs brought The Man I Love, and Simon Pegg and Sofia Boutella turned up for Only What We Carry. The festival, now in its second year of running an expanded industry section, screened 80 films across the ten days, running September 4 through 13.
