Babette Mangolte is a French cinematographer, film director, and photographer who has lived and worked in the United States since 1970.

Life and career

Mangolte was born and raised in France and moved to New York City in 1970. She attended L'Ecole Nationale de la Photographie et de la Cinematographie, graduating in 1966. Her move to New York was prompted by a disillusionment with the French film industry's male dominated climate, and an interest in experimental works by American filmmakers such as

Jonas Mekas Jonas Mekas (; December 24, 1922 – January 23, 2019) was a Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist who has been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema". Mekas' work has been exhibited in museums and at festivals worldwi ...

and

Stan Brakhage James Stanley Brakhage ( ; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a larg ...

. In the 1970s she began documenting the performance works of notable choreographers such as

Trisha Brown Trisha Brown (November 25, 1936 – March 18, 2017) was an American choreographer and dancer, and one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater and the postmodern dance movement. Brown’s dance/movement method, with which she and her dancer ...

Lucinda Childs Lucinda Childs (born June 26, 1940) is an American postmodern dancer/ choreographer and actress. Her compositions are known for their minimalistic movements yet complex transitions. Childs is most famous for being able to turn the slightest mov ...

, David Gordon, and

Yvonne Rainer Yvonne Rainer (born November 24, 1934) is an American dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is regarded as challenging and experimental.

. During this time, she also collaborated with director Chantal Akerman. Together they made several films, the most notable of which are ''

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles ''Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (, "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels") is a 1975 drama film written and directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman. It was filmed over five weeks on location in Brussels, ...

'' (1975) and '' News from Home'' (1977). Mangolte shot her first feature, ''L'Automne'', in 1970, which was directed by Marcel Hanoun. Mangolte credits Dziga Vertov's ''

Man with a Movie Camera ''Man with a Movie Camera'' (russian: Человек с киноаппаратом, translit=Chelovek s kinoapparatom) is an experimental 1929 Soviet silent documentary film, directed by Dziga Vertov, filmed by his brother Mikhail Kaufman, an ...

'' (1929) as the film that made her decide to become a cinematographer. She is known for her experimental film-making, which is influenced by the French New Wave and Structural Film. She has made many films of dancers and performance artists, along with several documentaries and narrative films. Her films include both short and feature length. Her most recent film is ''

Seven Easy Pieces ''Seven Easy Pieces'' was a series of performances given by artist Marina Abramović in New York City at the Guggenheim Museum in November 2005. Although the performance art world traditionally frowns on repeating individual works, valuing the ...

'' (2007), a documentary of the performance artist

Marina Abramović Marina Abramović ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Абрамовић, ; born November 30, 1946) is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, feminist art, the relationship between the performer and audi ...

. She is a professor at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

Filmography

Directed, produced, photographed or edited by Babette Mangolte * 1975 What Maisie Knew 58 min. 16mm B&W * 1976 (Now) (Maintenant entre parentheses) 10 min. 16mm color * 1977 The Camera: Je (La Camera: I) 88 min. 16mm Color * 1978 Water Motor 9min. 16mm B&W - Choreography: Trisha Brown * 1979 There? Where? 8min. 16mm Color * 1980 The Cold Eye (My Darling be Careful) 90min. 16mm B&W * 1982 The Sky on Location 78min. 16mm Color * 1991 Visible Cities 31 min. 16mm Color * 1993 Four Pieces by Morris 94 min. 16mm Color - Choreography: Robert Morris * 1995-99 Dismantle (an essay on photography) 16mm Color in progress * 2000 Homemade, 6 min. Super 8mm/Digi Beta Choreography: Trisha Brown * 2003 Les Modèles de Pickpocket, 89 minutes Digi Beta PAL 16:9 * 2004 Roof and Fire Piece, 31 minutes, Choreography: Trisha Brown 1973, DVD, ArtPix * 2007 Seven Easy Pieces by Marina Abaramović * 2007 Yvonne Rainer's AG Indexical with a little help from H.M. * 2008 Yvonne Rainer's RoS Indexical 2010 Slide Shoq * 2012 Roof Piece on the High Line * 2012 Patricia Patterson Paintings * 2012 Edward Krasiński's Studio * 2012 Homemade (choreography Trisha Brown, danced by Vicki Shick)

References

External links

*
at UbuWeb
Living people French emigrants to the United States French cinematographers French women cinematographers American women cinematographers French women film directors Year of birth missing (living people) American cinematographers 21st-century American women University of California, San Diego faculty {{cinematographer-stub