The Cinémathèque Française (), founded in 1936, is a French non-profit film organization that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the archive offers daily screenings of worldwide films.

History

The collection emerged from the efforts of

Henri Langlois Henri Langlois (; 13 November 1914 – 13 January 1977) was a French film archivist and cinephile. A pioneer of film preservation, Langlois was an influential figure in the history of cinema. His film screenings in Paris in the 1950s are often ...

and Lotte H. Eisner in the mid 1930s to collect and screen films. Langlois had acquired one of the largest collections in the world by the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, only to have it nearly wiped out by the German authorities in occupied France, who ordered the destruction of all films made prior to 1937. He and his friends smuggled huge numbers of documents and films out of occupied

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to protect them until the end of the war. After the war, the French government provided a small screening room, staff and subsidy for the collection, which was relocated to the Avenue de Messine. Significant French filmmakers of the 1940s and 1950s, including

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson contributed notably to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, ellipses, and sparse use of scoring have l ...

René Clément René Clément (; 18 March 1913 – 17 March 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter. Life and career Clément studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. In 1936, he directed hi ...

, Henri-Georges Clouzot and

Jacques Becker Jacques Becker (; 15 September 1906 – 21 February 1960) was a French film director and screenwriter. His films, made during the 1940s and 1950s, encompassed a wide variety of genres, and they were admired by some of the filmmakers who led th ...

frequented screenings at the Cinémathèque. Directors of the New Wave (''la Nouvelle Vague'') school —

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included ...

Jacques Rivette Jacques Rivette (; 1 March 1928 – 29 January 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine '' Cahiers du Cinéma''. He made twenty-nine films, including '' L'amour f ...

, François Truffaut,

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

, Claude Chabrol,

Roger Vadim Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director and producer, as well as an author, artist and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, su ...

Jacques Doniol-Valcroze Jacques Doniol-Valcroze (; 15 March 1920 – 6 October 1989) was a French actor, critic, screenwriter, and director. In 1951, Doniol-Valcroze was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine ''Cahiers du cinéma'', along with André Bazin and Jo ...

, and

Pierre Kast Pierre Kast (; 22 September 1920, Paris20 October 1984, Rome) was a French people, French screenwriter and film and television director. Biography A member of the ''Cahiers du cinéma'' in the 1950s, Kast created many short films and documentarie ...

— also received much of their film education by attending the collection's screenings. A meeting in 1945 in

Basle , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

between Langlois and

Freddy Buache Freddy Buache (29 December 1924 – 28 May 2019) was a Swiss journalist, cinema critic and film historian. He was the director of the Swiss Film Archive (a foundation for the conservation and study of films and cinematography) from 1951 to 1996. ...

led, via Lausanne's first film club, to the founding in 1950 of the Swiss Film Archive.

The events of May 1968

In June 1963, the Cinémathèque moved to the

Palais de Chaillot The Palais de Chaillot () is a building at the top of the in the Trocadéro area in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th ''arrondissement'' of Paris, France. For the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937) ...

with funds provided by

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by P ...

, Minister of Culture, and became subject to government overview. In February 1968, under pressure from the Ministry of Finance, Malraux required changes in the management of the Cinémathèque and dismissed Henri Langlois. A defence committee was formed, uniting notable French filmmakers (

Alexandre Astruc Alexandre Astruc (; 13 July 1923 – 19 May 2016) was a French film critic and film director. Biography Before becoming a film director he was a journalist, novelist and film critic. His contribution to the auteur theory centers on his notion ...

Claude Berri Claude Berri (; 1 July 1934 – 12 January 2009) was a French film director, writer, producer, actor and distributor. Early life Born Claude Beri Langmann in Paris, Berri was the son of Jewish immigrant parents. His mother, Beila (née Bercu), w ...

, Claude Chabrol,

Jean Eustache Jean Eustache (; 30 November 1938 – 5 November 1981) was a French filmmaker. During his short career, he completed numerous short films, in addition to a pair of highly regarded features, of which the first, ''The Mother and the Whore'', is c ...

Georges Franju Georges Franju (; 12 April 1912 – 5 November 1987) was a French filmmaker. He was born in Fougères, Ille-et-Vilaine. Biography Early life Before working in French cinema, Franju held several different jobs. These included working for a ...

Abel Gance Abel Gance (; born Abel Eugène Alexandre Péréthon; 25 October 188910 November 1981) was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: ''J ...

, Joris Ivens,

, Chris Marker,

Eric Rohmer The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

Jean Rouch Jean Rouch (; 31 May 1917 – 18 February 2004) was a French filmmaker and anthropologist. He is considered one of the founders of cinéma vérité in France. Rouch's practice as a filmmaker, for over 60 years in Africa, was characterized b ...

, François Truffaut) together with major actors (

Jean-Pierre Léaud Jean-Pierre Léaud, ComM (; born 28 May 1944) is a French actor, known for playing Antoine Doinel in François Truffaut's series of films about that character, beginning with ''The 400 Blows'' (1959). He also worked several times with Jean-Luc ...

Claude Jade Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade (; 8 October 1948 – 1 December 2006), was a French actress. She starred as Christine in François Truffaut's three films '' Stolen Kisses'' (1968), '' Bed and Board'' (1970) and '' Love on th ...

, Jean Marais and Françoise Rosay). Foreign filmmakers such as

Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consid ...

and

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

added their support. Protests were organized. Confrontations followed between young people, largely students, and what they saw as an authoritarian centre-right government, out of touch with the concerns of the younger generation. These demonstrations were precursors of and merged into the widespread student revolt that erupted from March 1968 onwards, escalating into nationwide unrest in May. Before then, the government had backed down over the Cinémathèque, reinstating Langlois as head in April 1968.

Location

After numerous incidentsincluding multiple relocations from one small screening room to another through the 1950s and a fire in its last premisesthe Cinémathèque française moved to 51, rue de Bercy in the 12th arrondissement of Paris and reopened its doors in a postmodern building designed by Frank Gehry, an American architect. The Bibliothèque du film, which was created in 1992 to show the history of cinema, its production, impact and artistic strength, merged with the Cinémathèque française. Cinémathèque française operates the Musée de la cinémathèque, formerly known as Musée du cinéma Henri-Langlois, in the new building.

President Director and Secretary

*President:

Costa-Gavras Costa-Gavras (short for Konstantinos Gavras; el, Κωνσταντίνος Γαβράς; born 12 February 1933) is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for films with political and s ...

, Oscar-nominated director of ''Z'', "State of Siege", Berlin

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

-winning director of ''

Music Box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc to pluck the tuned teeth (or ''lamellae'' ...

'' and Cannes

Golden Palm The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

-winning director of '' Missing'' *Director: Fréderic Bonnaud, former critic and radio host. *General Secretary:

Jean-Michel Arnold Jean-Michel Arnold, (1938 - September 4, 2019) is General Secretary of the Cinémathèque Française, vice President of UNESCO's IFTC (International Council for Film Television and Audiovisual Communication), founder of the Cinéma du Réel, Direc ...

, the spiritual successor of

and consistently re-elected as General Secretary since 1981 *Honorary Presidents: **

Jean-Charles Tacchella Jean-Charles Tacchella (born 23 September 1925) is a French screenwriter and film director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his film '' Cousin Cousine'' (1975), which was also nominated for the Academy Awar ...

Tributes

In celebration of the Centennial of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum and the

City Center of Music and Drama New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and th ...

in New York co-sponsored "Cinémathèque at the Metropolitan Museum". The exhibition showed seventy films dating from the medium's first seventy-five years on thirty-five consecutive evenings from July 29 to September 3, 1970. The films were selected by Henri Langlois for their significance and contributions to the history of filmmaking, including work from official film industries as well as current and early avant garde directors. The Cinémathèque's closing is noted in François Truffaut's 1968 film ''

Stolen Kisses ''Stolen Kisses'' (french: Baisers volés) is a 1968 French romantic comedy-drama film directed by François Truffaut, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Delphine Seyrig and Claude Jade. It continues the story of the character Antoine Doinel, whom Tr ...

''. The Cinémathèque also appears in the

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), '' The Book of Illusions'' (2002), ''The ...

2002 novel ''

The Book of Illusions ''The Book of Illusions'' is a novel by American writer Paul Auster, published in 2002. It was nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award in 2004. Plot introduction Set in the late 1980s, the story is written from the perspective of ...

'' and the 1998

Harvey Danger Harvey Danger was an American alternative rock band that was formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1992 by journalism students at the University of Washington. The band rose to prominence in 1997 with the single "Flagpole Sitta", which was later us ...

song "Private Helicopter". The Cinémathèque and the events surrounding the dismissal of Langlois in 1968 features heavily in

Gilbert Adair Gilbert Adair (29 December 19448 December 2011) was a Scottish novelist, poet, film critic, and journalist.Stuart Jeffries and Ronald BerganObituary: Gilbert Adair ''The Guardian'', 9 December 2011. He was critically most famous for the "fiend ...

's 1988 novel ''

The Holy Innocents The Holy Innocents may refer to: * The victims of the Biblical Massacre of the Innocents, and any of several artistic depictions of this massacre (e.g. by Giotto di Bondone) * The Holy Innocents (Adair novel), by Gilbert Adair ** The Dreamers (20 ...

'' also known as ''The Dreamers'' and in its 2003 film adaptation by

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...

References

External links

Official siteThe restaurant siteCinémathèque Française Laterna magica site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cinematheque Francaise Museums in Paris Frank Gehry buildings Expressionist architecture Postmodern architecture Film archives in France Film preservation Film organizations in France 1936 establishments in France Organizations established in 1936 Buildings and structures in the 12th arrondissement of Paris