Director James Gray received the Career Leopard honor at the 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival on Sunday evening, marking a high-profile showcase for his autobiographical feature Paper Tiger, according to reporting from The Hollywood Reporter.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the U.S. auteur admitted that the sheer scale of the crowd left him feeling like he was in the Beatles, adding that public speaking in such settings felt vaguely terrifying compared to controlling the set from behind the camera.
The festival screening highlighted Paper Tiger, a loosely autobiographical film written and directed by Gray that stars Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Miles Teller.
“You’re going to see pretty much where I grew up,” Gray told the Locarno audience, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. “A lot of it is autobiographical. You’ll see my neighborhood, and you’ll say, ‘Oh my God.’ Because I got here with this [award], and I came from that.”
Domestic Reality Checks and Future Projects
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the director shared his wife’s deadpan reaction with the crowd: “When I told my wife, I said, ‘Hey, they want to give me this prize in Locarno.’ My wife said, ‘That’s very nice. Now, can you take out the garbage?'”
Gray noted that the domestic reality check provided a useful perspective on life, while emphasizing that the honor itself remained deeply moving. Addressing speculation regarding his longevity in the industry, the director made it clear that the career achievement award does not signal retirement.
“I’m not old,” Gray told the audience, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I have many good films, hopefully, left, and maybe better. So don’t age me out yet.”
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