Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis will receive the 2026 Vigo d'Honneur, the honorary distinction of France's Prix Jean Vigo.
The award will be presented on 6 July 2026 at the Cinémathèque française, the Paris-based film archive, museum, and screening institution.
The Prix Jean Vigo is a French cinema award founded in 1951 in the name of filmmaker Jean Vigo. It honors writer-directors for independence of spirit, quality, and originality, and is regarded as an encouragement for future work.
Gomis will receive the Vigo d'Honneur, the award's honorary distinction, at the 2026 ceremony.
Recent recipients include Wang Bing in 2025, Elia Suleiman in 2024, and Claire Simon in 2023.
Gomis' career includes L'Afrance, released in 2001; Andalucia, released in 2007; Aujourd'hui, released in 2013; and Félicité, which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2017.
His latest feature, Dao, screened at the Berlinale in February 2026 and was released in French cinemas on 29 April 2026.
The honor comes ahead of a Centre Pompidou retrospective dedicated to Gomis, scheduled for 7–20 October 2026 at mk2 Bibliothèque in Paris, with a masterclass and a new film in its "Où en êtes-vous ?" collection also planned.
Gomis joins past African laureates Sembène Ousmane, Mehdi Charef, Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche and Alice Diop.