Mathilde Arcel, the winner of this year’s best actress prize at the Venice Film Festival, disclosed that she was on unemployment benefits and had to return to Copenhagen to report to the job centre just days before receiving her award.
Award Highlights
On Saturday night, Mathilde Arcel won the prestigious Volpi Cup for her leading role in May el-Toukhy’s post-World War II drama, Woman Unknown, which also clinched the Golden Lion award for best film. Jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal noted that the judges relaxed Venice rules regarding multiple awards for a single film due to the unanimous vote for Arcel.
Job Centre Visit
In an interview with Danish newspaper Politiken, the 30-year-old actor revealed that she had returned to Denmark after her film’s premiere to sign on at the job centre, as she relies on unemployment benefits when not working on films. After being advised to attend the awards gala, she flew back to the Lido.
