Jean-Loup Passek (29 July 1936 – 4 December 2016) was a French film critic. He was the director of cinematic collections at the Centre Georges Pompidou, and the author of several books about cinema.

Early life

Jean-Loup Passek was born on 29 July 1936 in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris. He was of Slavic descent. He inherited the merry-go-round in the

Jardin du Luxembourg The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Creation of the garden began in 1612 when Marie de' ...

. Passek graduated from the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in history and geography.

Career

Passek began his career as a poet. Passek was the editor of all articles on geography in ''

Petit Larousse ''Le Petit Larousse Illustré'', commonly known simply as ''Le Petit Larousse'' (), is a French-language encyclopedic dictionary published by Éditions Larousse. It first appeared in 1905 and was edited by Claude Augé, following Augé's '' Dict ...

'' from 1963 to 1985. Passek authored several books of cinematic criticism, including the ''Dictionnaire du cinéma'' published by

Éditions Larousse Éditions Larousse is a French publishing house specialising in reference works such as dictionaries. It was founded by Pierre Larousse and its best-known work is the ''Petit Larousse''. It was acquired from private owners by Compagnie Europée ...

. In 1978, he became the director of cinematic collections at the Centre Georges Pompidou. Passek worked on the La Rochelle International Film Festival from 1977 onwards. Under his leadership, the film festival focused on comparing films rather than ranking them through competition. A year later, in 1978, he worked on 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 ...

, where he launched the

Caméra d'Or The Caméra d'Or ("''Golden Camera''") is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des ...

with Gilles Jacob. Cinema Melgaco

Passek established the '' Museu de Cinema de Melgaço Jean Loup Passek'' in Melgaço, Portugal.

Death

Passek died on 4 December 2016. He was 80 years old.

Works

Poetry

* *

Film criticism

* * * * * * * * * * *

References

1936 births 2016 deaths People from Boulogne-Billancourt University of Paris alumni 20th-century French poets French male poets French film critics 20th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers {{France-nonfiction-writer-stub