Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film ''
Beau Travail
''Beau Travail'' (, French for "good work") is a 1999 French film directed by Claire Denis that is loosely based on Herman Melville's 1888 novella '' Billy Budd''. The story is set in Djibouti, where the protagonists are soldiers in the French For ...
'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include ''
Trouble Every Day'' (2001), ''
35 Shots of Rum'' (2008), ''
White Material'' (2009), ''
High Life'' (2018) and ''
Both Sides of the Blade'' (2022), the last of which won her the
Silver Bear for Best Director
The Silver Bear for Best Director (german: Silberner Bär/Bester Regie) is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury ...
at the
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
. For her film ''
Stars at Noon'' (2022), Denis competed for the
Palme d'Or
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 ...
at the
2022 Cannes Film Festival
The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is an upcoming film festival scheduled to take place from 17 to 28 May 2022. The festival will see a tribute to actor Tom Cruise, whose film '' Top Gun: Maverick'' is due to premiere at the festival. The off ...
. She won the
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
, sharing the award with
Lukas Dhont
Lukas Dhont (born 1991) () is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. He was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2019.
Early life
Dhont was born in Gent (in English Ghent), Belgium. His mother, Hilbe is a fashion teacher at an art ...
's film ''
Close
Close may refer to:
Music
* ''Close'' (Kim Wilde album), 1988
* ''Close'' (Marvin Sapp album), 2017
* ''Close'' (Sean Bonniwell album), 1969
* "Close" (Sub Focus song), 2014
* "Close" (Nick Jonas song), 2016
* "Close" (Rae Sremmurd song), 201 ...
''.
Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and post-colonial
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
, as well as issues in modern France, and continues to influence European cinematic identity.
Early life
Denis was born in Paris, but raised in colonial French Africa, where her father was a civil servant, living in
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...
,
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
,
French Somaliland
French Somaliland (french: Côte française des Somalis, lit= French Coast of the Somalis so, Xeebta Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which time it became the French Ter ...
, and
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
. Her childhood spent living in West Africa with her parents and her younger sister colored her perspective on certain political issues. Their father told them that independence from France would be a good thing for these colonies. Her upbringing was a strong influence on her films, which have dealt with colonialism and post-colonialism in Africa. Her father moved with the family every two years because he wanted the children to learn about geography.
Growing up in West Africa, Denis used to watch old and damaged copies of war films sent from the United States. As an adolescent she loved to read. Completing the required material while in school, at night she would sneak her mother's detective stories to read.
At age 12, Denis was diagnosed with
polio
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
and returned to France for treatment. She lived in
Sceaux, a suburb of Paris, for the rest of her teenage years. During her time in France, she felt unfit for living in France. She was educated for a life in Africa, and felt completely different from everyone around her.
In 1969, Denis married a photographer she met at the age of 15, after being hired as his assistant. Due to the complex nature of having him in her private life but also as her teacher, they divorced soon after.
Career
Denis initially studied economics, but, she has said, "It was completely suicidal. Everything pissed me off."
She then briefly studied Oriental languages and married a photographer who encouraged her to quit. In 1969 Denis studied at
IDHEC (L'Institut des hautes études cinématographiques – now La Fémis) with her husband's encouragement. He told her she needed to figure out what she wanted to do.
She graduated from the IDHEC and since 2002 has been a professor of film at the
European Graduate School
The European Graduate School (EGS) is a private graduate school that operates in two locations: Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta.
History
It was founded in 1994 in Saas-Fee, Switzerland by the Swiss scientist, artist, and therapist, P ...
in
Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded ...
, Switzerland.
Before applying and being accepted into IDHEC, she worked as an intern at Télé Niger. After telling everyone that she wanted to apply to IDHEC, they told her, "no, don't waste your time studying, all you need to do is make films here with us".
After graduating in 1971 and by this time divorced, Denis began working as an assistant director for many acclaimed filmmakers. Such films include Jacques Rivette's ''
Out 1
''Out 1'', also referred to as ''Out 1: Noli Me Tangere'', is a 1971 French film directed by Jacques Rivette and Suzanne Schiffman. It is indebted to Honoré de Balzac's ''La Comédie humaine'', particularly the ''History of the Thirteen'' colle ...
'' (1971), Denis Dusan Makavejev's ''Sweet Movie'' (1974), Robert Enrico's ''The Old Gun'' (1974), Eduardo de Gregorio's ''Sérail'' (1976) and Costa-Gavras's ''
Hanna K.'' (1983). After meeting
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...
, Denis traveled to the U.S. to be the assistant director on ''
Paris, Texas
Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020.
History
Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River Co ...
'' (1984) and ''
Wings of Desire
''Wings of Desire'' (, ; ) is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its ...
'' (1987). Wenders has said, "Claire was more than ready to make her own films. It would have been a waste to let her continue working as an assistant director". By working with so many directors Denis realized she wanted to make her own films to have more independence and ownership of her work.
Denis's feature film debut, ''
Chocolat'' (1988), is a semi-autobiographical meditation about a French woman reflecting on her childhood in Cameroon and her relationship with her family's African servant. While making it, Denis began collaborating with Jean-Pol Fargeau as a co-writer. They still work together. ''Chocolat'' was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes and praised by critics and audiences as a remarkable first film.
Denis's second film, ''Man No Run'' (1989), is a documentary that follows a group of Cameroonian musicians,
Les Têtes Brulées, touring France. It was considered an unusual second choice. Her next two narrative films were ''
No Fear, No Die'' (''S'en fout la mort'', 1990) and ''
I Can't Sleep'' (''J'ai pas sommeil'', 1994). The former is about illegal cockfighting, the latter about a serial killer who murders elderly women, inspired by a real case. Her next film, ''
Nénette et Boni
''Nénette'' is a 2010 French documentary film about a 40-year-old female orangutan living in the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes, (the zoo in Paris, France). The film, directed by Nicolas Philibert presents an intimate portrait of the ape, ...
'' (1996), dives into the relationship between an alienated brother and his unhappily pregnant sister.
![PER90110 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/PER90110_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Denis's fifth and arguably most renowned film is ''
Beau Travail
''Beau Travail'' (, French for "good work") is a 1999 French film directed by Claire Denis that is loosely based on Herman Melville's 1888 novella '' Billy Budd''. The story is set in Djibouti, where the protagonists are soldiers in the French For ...
'' (1999). It is about soldiers in the French Foreign Legion in Djibouti and loosely based on Herman Melville's ''
Billy Budd'' (1888). ''Beau Travail'' explores the themes of masculinity and obsession. Her next film, ''
Trouble Every Day'' (2001), was a surprise, a horror film about a newlywed couple in Paris while the husband succumbs to sexually fueled cannibalism.
Of Denis's next six films, five draw from preexisting texts and films. ''
Friday Night'' (''Vendredi soir'', 2002) is about two strangers who spend the night together the night before the woman is supposed to move in with her current lover. It was adapted from Emmanuèle Bernheim's novel of the same name. ''
The Intruder'' (''L'Intrus'', 2004) is based on Jean Luc Nancy's short memoir about a man receiving a heart transplant and reconnecting with his son. ''
35 Shots of Rum'' (''35 rhums'', 2008) is another of Denis's most acclaimed films, about a father's and daughter's changing relationship. It was inspired by
Yasujirō Ozu
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...
's film ''
Late Spring
is a 1949 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and written by Ozu and Kogo Noda, based on the short novel ''Father and Daughter'' (''Chichi to musume'') by the 20th-century novelist and critic Kazuo Hirotsu. The film was written and s ...
'' (1949). Her film ''
Bastards'' (''Les Salauds'', 2013) was inspired by
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's ''
The Bad Sleep Well
is a 1960 Japanese crime mystery film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It was the first film to be produced under Kurosawa's own independent production company. It was entered into the 11th Berlin International Film Festival.
The film stars Toshiro ...
'' (''Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru'', 1960). ''
Let the Sunshine In
"Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" (commonly called "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In") is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical '' Hair'' by James Rado and Gerome ...
'' (''Un beau soleil intérieur'') (2017) is a romantic comedy inspired by
Roland Barthes
Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popular ...
's ''
A Lover's Discourse: Fragments'' (1977). Of these, the only film not based on preexisting text is ''
White Material'' (2009), which was co-written with Marie N'Diaye. It is about a white French woman in post-colonial Africa who stays during a rising civil conflict. Denis's most recent film is ''
High Life'' (2018), which takes place on a prison spaceship.
With films such as ''US Go Home'' (1994), ''Nénette et Boni'', ''Beau Travail'',
''Trouble Every Day'', and ''Vendredi soir'', Denis established a reputation as a filmmaker who "has been able to reconcile the lyricism of French cinema with the impulse to capture the often harsh face of contemporary France."
She returned to Africa with ''White Material'', set in an unidentified country during a civil war.
Denis has also made many short films spanning a multitude of subjects, such as ''Le 15 Mai'' (1969) while studying at IDHEC, ''Keep It for Yourself'' (1991) and ''Voilà l'enchaînement'' (2014). Her anthologies include ''Pour Ushari Ahmed Mahmoud'', ''Soudan in Lest We Forget'' (''Contre l'oubli'', (1991). ''US Go Home'' (1994) is a segment in a series of hourlong films commissioned by Arte. ''Nice, Very Nice'' is a segment in ''À propos de Nice, la suite'' (1995) and ''Towards Nancy'' (''Vers Nancy'') in ''
Ten Minutes Older:The Cello'' (2002). Her documentaries include ''Jacques Rivette, le veilleur'' (Jacques Rivette, ''the Watchman'', 1990), ''Towards Mathilde'' (''Vers Mathilde'', 2005) and ''Venezia 70 – Future Reloaded'' (2013). She also made the short film ''Contact'' (2014) for a light installation by
Olafur Eliasson
Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...
, who helped on the production design for ''High Life''.
Common themes in Denis's work include obsession, desire, violence, sex, and the body. It also focuses on the feelings of being an outsider and belonging. Denis has said, "For me, the monster is invisible. If there is a small thread running through all my work, it is that evil is never the other, everything is inside and never outside."
Denis is a highly collaborative filmmaker, saying in an interview, "the film becomes a relationship...and that is what's important, the relationship."
[Ratner (2010). "Moving Toward the Unknown Other"] The importance of collaboration can be seen throughout her work. She often recasts actors in multiple films, most notably
Alex Descas, who has worked with Denis 11 times from 1990 to 2017, and
Isaach de Bankolé, who appeared in three of her films from 1988 to 2009.
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...
,
Béatrice Dalle,
Nicolas Duvauchelle
Nicolas Duvauchelle (born 27 March 1980) is a French actor, perhaps best known for his role as Theo in three seasons of the crime drama ''Braquo''.
Career
Duvauchelle starred in numerous films including ''Lightweight'', '' À tout de suite'' ...
,
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer.
She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
and
Grégoire Colin
Grégoire Colin (born 25 July 1975) is a French actor.
Career
Grégoire started acting on the French stage at age 12. He first caught the eye of critics in the 1992 Agnieszka Holland's psychological family drama ''Olivier, Olivier'' when he was ...
have also appeared in multiple Denis films. She most often collaborates with screenwriter
Jean-Pol Fargeau
Jean-Pol Fargeau is a French screenwriter and frequent collaborator of writer-director Claire Denis. They have made ten films together, most notably '' Chocolat'' (1988), ''Beau Travail'' (1999), and ''35 Shots of Rum'' (2008).
Career
Jean-Pol ...
, composer
Stuart Staples of the band
Tindersticks
Tindersticks are an English alternative rock band formed in Nottingham in 1991. They released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples embarked on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006 and more permanently the following year. Th ...
, and cinematographer
Agnès Godard
Agnès Godard (born 28 May 1951) is a French cinematographer. She is most famous for her long-running collaboration with filmmaker Claire Denis. For her work, she has won a César Award.
Life and career
Godard originally studied journalism, but ...
, whom she met in the 1970s at the
Institut des hautes études cinématographiques
L'Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC; the "Institute for Advanced Cinematographic Studies") is a French film school, founded during World War II under the leadership of Marcel L'Herbier who was its president from 1944 to 1969. I ...
.
Asked about her screenwriting process, Denis said, "I often realize I have
Isaach or
Grégoire
Grégoire is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname / Family name
*Alexandre Grégoire (1922–2001), Haitian painter
* Augustus Gregoire (1936–1972), Dominican cricketer
*Christine Gregoire (born 1947), ...
or someone else in mind" when writing scenes. She has also said that usually she "hold
no auditions" for her films.
Fargeau has co-written ten of Denis's screenplays. Staples has composed eight of her films and Denis has said that he "has a rapport with the body, with flesh, with desire which is very close to mine". Nelly Quettier edited ''I Can't Sleep'', ''Beau Travail'', ''Vendredi soir'' and ''The Intruder''. Judy Shrewsbury has worked on every one of Denis's features for the last 20 years.
Agnès Godard is one of Denis's most important collaborators, having worked on 11 of her films as a camera operator to the cinematographer in every film except ''White Material'' and ''High Life''.
Denis has said that by collaborating with so many artists she has learned to trust the filmmaking process. She told Damon Smith: "What I got from Jacques Rivette was a complete trust in filmmaking, in actors, in acting...and a taste for endangering myself a little bit...From Wim
enders
Enders or Ender's may refer to:
Literature and film
* ''Ender's Game'' (series), a series of science fiction books by Orson Scott Card, also known as the Ender saga
** '' Ender's Game'', a 1985 military science fiction novel
** '' Ender's Shadow ...
I got another kind of trust, a trust in feeling very free with the camera and in designing a film not with an aesthetic, but with a complete trust of a location, in the light of the day." She also gives actors considerable freedom. In ''
Trouble Every Day'' there are two onscreen murders where she let Gallo and Dalle do what they wished after the first scripted bite.
Denis's collaborations go beyond her own films, as she has appeared in other directors' films, such as
Laetitia Masson
Lætitia Masson (born 18 August 1966) is a French film director and screenwriter. She has directed twelve films since 1991. Her film '' À vendre'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard
(, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cann ...
's ''En avoir'' (1995) and
Tonie Marshall
Tonie Marshall (29 November 1951 – 12 March 2020) was a French-American actress, screenwriter, and film director. In 2000, she became the first female director to win a César award for her film ''Venus Beauty Institute.''
Life and career
Ma ...
's ''
Vénus beauté'' (1999). She shares screenwriting credit on
Yousry Nasrallah
Yousry Nasrallah ( ar, يسرى نصر الله ) (born 26 July 1952) is an Egyptian film director.
Biography
Nasrallah was born to a Coptic Christian family in Cairo. He graduated in economics and political science at Cairo University. Fo ...
's ''El Medina'' (2000). She also worked as an assistant director with
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...
on ''
Paris, Texas
Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020.
History
Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River Co ...
'' (1984) and ''
Wings of Desire
''Wings of Desire'' (, ; ) is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its ...
'' (1987), and with
Jim Jarmusch
James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...
on ''
Down by Law'' (1986).
In 2005, Denis was a member of the jury at the
27th Moscow International Film Festival.
In 2011, she was a member of the jury at the
Deauville American Film Festival
The Deauville American Film Festival (french: Festival du cinéma américain de Deauville, link=no) is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France.
It was established by Lionel Cho ...
.
In 2006, Denis directed the video for the song "
Incinerate
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high ...
" by
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
, from their album ''
Rather Ripped''.
''
Bastards'' was screened in the
Un Certain Regard
(, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films w ...
section at the
2013 Cannes Film Festival
The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and S ...
.
Also that year, Denis was awarded the Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award at the
Stockholm Film Festival
The Stockholm International Film Festival ( sv, Stockholms filmfestival, italic=no) is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year since then during the second half of November.
The w ...
.
Denis announced in 2015 that she was partnering with
Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...
for her English-language debut film, ''
High Life''. Smith eventually left the project, causing a delay in filming. Denis went on to work on ''
Let the Sunshine In
"Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" (commonly called "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In") is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical '' Hair'' by James Rado and Gerome ...
'', which starred
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer.
She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
and was released in 2017.
In 2018 Denis completed and released ''
High Life'', her first English-language feature film, with
Robert Pattinson
Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor. Known for starring in both big-budget and independent films, Pattinson has ranked among the world's highest-paid actors. In 2010, ''Time'' magazine named him one of the 1 ...
cast as the lead. The film premiered at the
2018 Toronto International Film Festival
The 43rd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 6 to 16, 2018. In June 2018, the TIFF organizers announced a program to ensure that at least 20 percent of all film critics and journalists given press accreditation to ...
. It later had a limited U.S. release by American indie distributors
A24
A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City.
A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...
. It was positively reviewed by many notable critics.
Denis has been a member of multiple film festival boards, starting with the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
board in 2005. In 2019, she was the president of the board of the
Cinéfondation
La ''Cinéfondation'' is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes Film Festival, created to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers.
It was created in 1998 by Gilles Jacob. Since then it has developed complementary ...
and short films at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
. In 2020, she was the president of the board of the Orizzonti section at the Venice Film Festival.
Artistry
Most of Denis's œuvre uses location work rather than studio work. She sometimes places her actors as if they were positioned for still photography. She uses longer takes with a stationary camera and frames things in long shot, resulting in fewer close ups. But Denis's cinematic and topical focus always remains relentlessly on her protagonists' faces and bodies. The subject's body in space, and how the particular terrain, weather, and color of the landscape influence and interact with the human subjects of her films maintains cinematic dominance.
Tim Palmer explores Denis's work as a self-declared formalist and brilliant film stylist per se, an approach Denis has declared many times in interview to be as much about sounds, textures, colors and compositions as broader thematic concerns or social commitments.
According to the Australian James Phillips, Denis rejects the marketable conventions of Hollywood cinema and frees the viewers of her films from the expectations of clichés.
Denis combines history with personal history, giving her films an autobiographical element. This superimposition of the personal with the historical allows her films to be described as
auteur
An auteur (; , 'author') is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, which thus manifests the director's unique ...
cinema. She has worked in many genres, from horror (''Trouble Every Day'') to romance and drama (''Friday Night''). Critics have noted recurring themes in her films, but Denis says she has no coherent vision of her career "trajectory".
Denis has said that she is not concerned with film theory: "I am not at all interested in theories about cinema. I am only interested in images and people and sound... Film theory is just a pain in the ass." She focuses on "human" stories, no matter the setting of the film. Denis has said she does not aim to bring about radical social change or make the viewer feel better: "I'm not so sure films should be made to soothe people's pain. I don't want to be a social worker. I want to share something that is a vision, or a feeling." Her films' main focus is on the characters, often in moments of intense violence and emotion. "Anger is part of my relation to the world," she has said. "I'm filled with anger, I'm filled with regret, I'm filled with great memories, also poetic memories."
Denis has said that the body is "central" to her work, and often uses skin, blood, and other bodily fluids to symbolize characters' feelings, as well as highlight relationships between them. In ''Chocolat'', skin is photographed prominently to accentuate the difference between the subservient and degrading nature of the dark-skinned Proteè's forced outdoor bathing and the shameless confidence of pale, white Luc, who chooses to do so. In ''Trouble Every Day'' and ''High Life'', bodily fluids are central to the stories, creating visceral disturbing images, and highlighting the films' "sexuality".
Denis has directed a wide variety of films that span most known genres in her 30-year career, but is known for bending a genre's rules, often not obeying traditional rules of pacing or cinematography for established genres like horror, science fiction, and fantasy, focusing instead on the characters, their psyches, emotions and relationships. Though she has made horror movies and romantic comedies and dramas, Denis has never been concerned with making the scariest, funniest, or most heartbreaking films; she is only interested in telling the human story.
Denis chooses the titles of her films carefully. Noëlle Rouxel-Cubberly argues that titles are intended to force the viewer to rethink a film's imagery and that Denis uses them to describe the raw reality of her films. For example, the title of ''Chocolat'' simultaneously refers to a racist term used during the period of the film, the cocoa exportation from Africa to Europe through a slave system, and the 1950s French expression "''être chocolat''", meaning "to be cheated".
Denis is also known for "shooting fast, editing slowly". In general, she does a few takes on set and spends most of her time in the editing room, creating the film there. This post-production process often involves rearranging scenes out of the order in the script. For example, she placed the dance in ''Beau Travail'' at the end of the film though it was not at the end of the script. Of this process, Denis has said, "I'm always insecure when I'm making a film. I have doubts about myself but rarely about the actors."
Filmography
Feature films
* ''
Chocolat'' (1988)
* ''
S'en fout la mort / No Fear, No Die'' (1990)
* ''
J'ai pas sommeil / I Can't Sleep'' (1994)
* ''US Go Home'' (TV, from the collection ''Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge / All the Boys and the Girls of Their Age'', 1994)
* ''
Nénette et Boni
''Nénette'' is a 2010 French documentary film about a 40-year-old female orangutan living in the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes, (the zoo in Paris, France). The film, directed by Nicolas Philibert presents an intimate portrait of the ape, ...
/ Nenette and Boni'' (1996)
* ''
Beau Travail
''Beau Travail'' (, French for "good work") is a 1999 French film directed by Claire Denis that is loosely based on Herman Melville's 1888 novella '' Billy Budd''. The story is set in Djibouti, where the protagonists are soldiers in the French For ...
'' (1999)
* ''
Trouble Every Day'' (2001)
* ''
Vendredi soir / Friday Night'' (2002)
* ''
L'intrus / The Intruder'' (2004)
* ''
35 rhums / 35 Shots of Rum'' (2008)
* ''
White Material'' (2009)
* ''
Bastards / Les Salauds'' (2013)
* ''
Let the Sunshine In
"Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" (commonly called "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In") is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical '' Hair'' by James Rado and Gerome ...
/ Un beau soleil intérieur'' (2017)
* ''
High Life'' (2018)
* ''
Both Sides of the Blade / Avec amour et acharnement'' (2022)
* ''
Stars at Noon'' (2022)
Short films
* ''Le 15 Mai'' (IDHEC film, based on
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satelli ...
's ''
The Tunnel under the World
"The Tunnel under the World" is a science fiction short story by American writer Frederik Pohl. It was first published in 1955 in '' Galaxy'' magazine. It has often been anthologized, most notably in '' The Golden Age of Science Fiction'', edited ...
'', 1969)
* ''
Keep It for Yourself
''Keep It for Yourself'' is a 1991 black-and-white short drama film written and directed by Claire Denis.
Plot
Sophie comes to New York from France with the intention of meeting up with a man she met a few months before. She finds herself alone ...
'' (1991)
* ''Contre l'oubli / Against Oblivion'' (1991)
**segment: ''Pour Ushari Ahmed Mahmoud, Soudan''
*''Monologues'' (TV series) ''La robe à cerceau'' (1993)
*''Boom-Boom'' (1994)
* ''À propos de Nice, la suite'' (1995)
**segment: ''Nice, Very Nice''
*''We, France's Undocumented Immigrants'' (co-director) (1997)
* ''
Ten Minutes Older: The Cello'' (2002)
**segment: ''Vers Nancy / Towards Nancy''
*''On bosse ici! On vit ici! On reste ici!'' (co-director) (2010)
*''To the Devil'' (2011)
* ''Venezia 70 - Future Reloaded'' (2013)
** Segment: ''Claire Denis''
*''Voilà l'enchaînement'' (2014)
*''Contact'' (2014/III)
Documentary films
* ''New Reports from France'' (TV Series documentary) (2 episodes)
** ''Chroniques de France N° 77'' (1972) ... (segment "Magic Circus, burlesque")
** ''Chroniques de France N° 87'' (1973) ... (segment "Bibliothèque modèle pour enfants, Clamart")
* ''Man No Run'' (1989)
* ''
Jacques Rivette, le veilleur
''Jacques Rivette, le veilleur'' (English: ''Jacques Rivette, the nightwatchman'') is a 1990 French television documentary film directed by Claire Denis and Serge Daney. Chronicling the life of film critic and director Jacques Rivette, it is an ep ...
/ Jacques Rivette, the Watchman'' (1990)
* ''Vers Mathilde / Towards Mathilde'' (2005)
*''The Breidjing Camp'' (TV documentary) (2005)
Second unit director or assistant director
* ''Sweet Movie'' (second assistant director) (1974)
* ''The Secret'' (second assistant director) (1974)
* ''The Golden Mass'' (second assistant director) (1975)
* ''The Old Gun'' (second assistant director) (1975)
* ''
Surreal Estate
''Surreal Estate'' (french: Sérail) is a 1976 French mystery film directed by Argentine filmmaker Eduardo de Gregorio, who is best known for his screenwriting work with Jacques Rivette.
Plot
''Surreal Estate'' tells the story of Eric Sange ...
'' (first assistant director) (1976)
*
''Mais où et donc'' ''Ornicar'' (first assistant director) (1979)
* ''
Return to the Beloved
''Return to the Beloved'' (french: Retour à la bien-aimée) is a 1979 French drama film directed by Jean-François Adam. Starring Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc and Bruno Ganz, it tells the story of a man who tries to win back his ex-wife ...
'' (assistant director) (1979)
* ''
Zoo zéro
''Zoo zéro'' is a 1979 French film directed by Alain Fleischer and starring Klaus Kinski.
Plot
A singer at a nightclub seeks to evade the control of her agent by wandering the city at night..
Cast
* Catherine Jourdan - Eva
* Klaus Kinski ...
'' (first assistant director) (1979)
* ''The Imprint of Giants'' (assistant director) (1980)
* ''Pile ou face'' (assistant director) (1980)
* ''We're Not Angels... Neither Are They'' (assistant director) (1981)
* ''
The Passerby'' (first assistant director) (1982)
* ''Le bâtard'' (first assistant director) (1983)
* ''
Hanna K.'' (first assistant director) (1983)
* ''To Catch a King'' (TV Movie) (first assistant director) (1984)
* ''
Paris, Texas
Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020.
History
Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River Co ...
'' (assistant director) (1984)
* ''
Down by Law'' (assistant director) (1986)
* ''
Wings of Desire
''Wings of Desire'' (, ; ) is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its ...
'' (first assistant director) (1987)
Awards and nominations
References
Sources
* Michael Omasta, Isabella Reicher (Ed.), ''Claire Denis. Trouble Every Day'', FilmmuseumSynemaPublikationen, Vienna 2006,
* Levilson Reis, "An 'other' scene, an 'other' point of view: France's colonial family romance, Protée's postcolonial fantasy, and Claire Denis' 'screen' memories." ''Studies in European Cinema'', vol. 10, nos. 2–3, 2013, pp. 119–131
DOI: 10.1386/seci.10.2-3.119_1
by Damon Smith (''Senses of Cinema'').
''"Dancing Reveals So Much: An Interview with Claire Denis"''by Darren Hughes (''Senses of Cinema'').
''"Great Directors: Claire Denis"''by Samantha Dinning (''Senses of Cinema'').
*
Martine Beugnet
Martine Beugnet is a French film theorist, and a Professor in Visual Studies at the Paris Diderot University. She has written primarily on corporeality and sensation in avant-garde and narrative cinema, and has had her work published in several f ...
, ''Claire Denis'', 2004, Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York.
* Judith Mayne, ''Claire Denis'', 2005, University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago.
Spectacularly Intimate: An Interview with Claire Denis by Kevin Lee, (''MUBI'').
* Marcelline Block, ''Situating the Feminist Gaze and Spectatorship in Postwar Cinema'', 2008, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne.
* James Phillips, ''Cinematic Thinking: Philosophical Approaches to the New Cinema'', 2008, Stanford University Press, Stanford.
by Ian Murphy (''Jump Cut'')
"Moving Toward the Unknown Other: An Interview with Claire Denis"by Megan Ratner (''Cineaste'')
by Susan Hayward (''L'Esprit Créateur'')
* 'Enfolding Surfaces, Spaces and Materials: Claire Denis' Neo-Baroque Textures of Sensation' by Saige Walton (Screening the Past
"Gestures of Intimacy: Claire Denis' I Can't Sleep"by Saige Walton (Senses of Cinema)
"White Material"by Marcin Wisniewski (Senses of Cinema)
*Robertson, Kate. "Borders/Bodies: Space, Surface, Touch and Desire." In ''Trouble Every Day'', 55–80. Liverpool University Press, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1r1nr10.5
External links
*
Back to Africa: An Interview with Claire Denis MUBI
Claire Denis.Faculty page at
European Graduate School
The European Graduate School (EGS) is a private graduate school that operates in two locations: Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta.
History
It was founded in 1994 in Saas-Fee, Switzerland by the Swiss scientist, artist, and therapist, P ...
(Biography, filmography, photos and video lectures)
Claire Denis a ''Reverse Shot'' symposium
Claire Denis an interview for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' by Charlotte Druckman
No Fear: The Films of Claire Denison the
IFC Center
IFC Center is an art house movie theater in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. Located at 323 Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) at West 3rd Street, it was formerly the Waverly Theater, an art house movie theater. IFC Center is ...
website
Moving Toward the Unknown Other: An Interview with Claire Denisby Megan Ratner
by Ian Murphy (''Jump Cut'' essay)
The films of Claire Denis ''Hell Is For Hyphenates'', 30 September 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denis, Claire
1946 births
French expatriates in Burkina Faso
French expatriates in Cameroon
French expatriates in Djibouti
French expatriates in Russia
French expatriates in Senegal
French expatriates in Switzerland
French women film directors
German-language film directors
European Graduate School faculty
Living people
Film people from Paris
Silver Bear for Best Director recipients