On the occasion of PIDS ENGHIEN (January 21-24, 2026), the Centre des arts and the city of Enghien-les-Bains are pleased to announce that Mr. Richard Edlund will receive the Honorary Genie on January 21, 2026 for his major contribution to the Art of Cinematography.

The Honorary Genie recognizes a personality whose creativity, innovation and vision have contributed to the development of the film and moving image industry.

Richard Edlund is one of the most influential pioneers in the history of modern visual effects. As a founding member of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), he helped shape the look and techniques of Hollywood blockbusters throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

He is best known for his groundbreaking work on the original Star Wars trilogy, for which he won multiple Academy Awards, as well as on iconic films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Poltergeist (1982), Ghostbusters (1984) and Die Hard (1988).

In 1983, Edlund founded Boss Film Studios, which quickly became one of the most respected visual effects companies in the industry, producing memorable sequences for films such as True Lies, Cliffhanger and Air Force One.

Four-time Academy Award winner and recipient of numerous distinctions from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Richard Edlund has left a lasting mark on cinema history, combining technological boldness with artistic inventiveness.

On the occasion of PIDS ENGHIEN (January 21-24, 2026), the Centre des arts and the city of Enghien-les-Bains are pleased to announce that VFX producer Sophie Leclerc will be honored with an Honorary Genie on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, during the next GENIE Awards ceremony.

The Honorary Genie recognizes a personality in the digital creation industry for their significant and lasting contributions to art and science through their vision, artistic talent, invention and innovation.

Sophie Leclerc began her career as a co-producer and director of documentary films.

In 1999, she found her path in visual effects by joining Tippett Studio as head of the art department, then becoming a producer. She then became an independent VFX producer in Los Angeles, where, over the past 20 years, she has collaborated with all major studios, including Universal Studios, Warner Bros, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Europacorp and New Line. Her credits include Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm, The A-Team, Finch, and most recently The Nun 2.

In 2004, she received an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Special Visual Effects category for the mini-series Dreamkeeper.

A defining moment in her career was her collaboration with Luc Besson on films such as Lucy, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and most recently Dracula.

After more than 20 years in the United States, she joined Rodeo FX Paris in 2024 to lead the company's new European studio alongside Franck Lambertz.

For her contribution to the production of innovative film projects that continue to push the boundaries of creativity, PIDS Enghien is honored and proud to present her with an Honorary Genie.

For the first time since its creation in 2015, PIDS Enghien has chosen to honor a filmmaker in recognition of his exceptional contribution to promoting French expertise in the field of visual effects.

Director, screenwriter and visual explorer, Jan Kounen has established himself over the past thirty years as one of the most daring figures in the French and international audiovisual landscape. From his early experimental short films, through advertising and music videos, to cult works such as Dobermann, Blueberry: The Secret Experience and 99 Francs, he has continuously pushed the boundaries between storytelling, aesthetics and technology, developing powerful, immersive and instantly recognizable visual universes.

Early on, Jan Kounen understood the creative potential of visual effects as a language in its own right. At every stage of his career, he has integrated the most advanced technological innovations in service of an assertive auteur vision. This ability to combine formal experimentation, artistic rigor and technical mastery has helped French VFX excellence shine on the international stage.

His work is also inseparable from an artistic and human collaboration rare in its longevity and coherence: the one he has maintained for over thirty years with VFX supervisor Rodolphe Chabrier (Mac Guff Ligne). Together, they have built a constant dialogue between directing and visual effects, seeking to push the limits of creation and invent new visual forms, whether in immersive Virtual Reality experiences like Ayahuasca – Kosmik Journey or more recently on The Shrinking Man where they had to implement sophisticated technical solutions to shrink Jean Dujardin in a real set.

In awarding him the Honorary Genie, the PIDS Enghien editorial committee salutes a free creator, a bridge between arts and technologies, and a visionary craftsman who, for more than three decades, has never stopped inventing new ways of seeing, telling and experiencing cinema.