Nelly Kaplan (11 April 1931 – 12 November 2020) was an Argentine-born French writer and film director who focused on the arts, film, and filmmakers. She studied economics at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...

. Passionate about cinema, she abruptly put her studies on hold to go to Paris to represent the new Argentine film archive at an international convention and later became a correspondent for different Argentine newspapers. She met Abel Gance in 1954, who gave her the opportunity to work on the film '' La tour de Nesle''. She became Gance's assistant during the film and showed the program ''Magirama'' (triple screen) in

Polyvision Polyvision was the name given by the French film critic Émile Vuillermoz to a specialized widescreen film format devised exclusively for the filming and projection of Abel Gance's 1927 film '' Napoleon''. Polyvision involved the simultaneou ...

, then, still at Gance's side, she collaborated with him on '' Austerlitz'' (1960). He trusted her with the direction of all the second crew's action scenes during the filming of his movie '' Cyrano and d'Artagnan'' (''Cyrano et d'Artagnan'', 1964). Meanwhile, she published her work about ''Magirama'' under the name ''Le Manifeste d'un art nouveau'', with a preface by

Philippe Soupault Philippe Soupault (2 August 1897 – 12 March 1990) was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later was instrumental in founding the Surrealist movement with André Breton. Soupault in ...

. In 1960, she published a film report entitled ''Le Sunlight of Austerlitz'', through the Plon publishing house. Beginning in 1961, she directed an entire series of art shorts, which won numerous prizes in various international festivals. Among these shorts were "

Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism.' ...

," an analysis of the 19th century symbolist painter; " Rudolphe Bresdin," the engraver; "Dessins et merveilles," on the sketchbooks of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

, as well as "Les années 25 ", " La Nouvelle Orangerie ", "Abel Gance hier et demain ", " A la source, la femme aimée", titles based on the secret notebooks of the painter

André Masson André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Biography Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brussel ...

. Her first feature movie, ''A Very Curious Girl,'' was the focus of a Kaplan retrospective in 2019, ''Wild Things: The Ferocious Films of Nelly Kaplan''. She filmed and produced a 1966 documentary, ''The Picasso Look,'' about the works of Picasso being delivered and displayed in Paris.

Biography

Nelly Kaplan was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina to a Russian Jewish family. A "neo-

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

," she was "the only female film maker linked with surrealism." Kaplan left for France at the age of 17. She served as a professor and lecturer at Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques. While Kaplan's films have been marketed as soft-core pornography, her works are often female-centered and approach eroticism from a woman's point of view. Her films have been shown at many international festivals. As a member of the SACD, she took part in the board of directors as a member of the Cinema Commission on several occasions. Kaplan regularly collaborated on the show "Des Papous dans la Tête," on

France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: * France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" sta ...

. She contributed to the cinema section of the magazine '' Le Magazine Littéraire'' for 25 years. Kaplan was Commander of the Arts and Letters, Officer in the National Merite Order, Cavalier of the Legion of Honor, and Academician of the Alphonse Allais Academy. Nelly Kaplan died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

at a nursing home in Geneva on 12 November 2020.

Timeline

Books and movies

Fiction

* ''La géométrie dans les spasmes'' (under the pen-name Belen), Le Terrain Vague, 1959. * ''La Reine des sabbats'' (under the pen-name Belen), Le Terrain Vague, 1960. * ''«...et délivrez nous du mâle»'' (under the pen-name Belen), Le Terrain Vague, 1960. * ''Le Réservoir des sens'', nouvelles, La Jeune Parque, 1966; rééd. J-J.Pauvert, 1988; rééd. augmentée Le Castor Astral, 1995. * ''Le Collier de Ptyx'', ciné-roman, J-J.Pauvert, 1971. * ''Mémoires d'une liseuse de draps'', roman, J-J.Pauvert, 1974. * ''Aux Orchidées sauvages, roman'', La Différence, 1998. * ''Un Manteau de fou rire'', roman, La Différence, 1998. * ''Ils furent une étrange comète'', roman, Le Castor Astral, 2002. * ''Cuisses de grenouille'', roman, Maren Sell Editeurs, 2005 * ''Et Pandore en avait deux..!'' followed by ''Mon Cygne, mon Signe'', Editions du Rocher, 2008 * ''Ecris-moi tes hauts faits et tes crimes… Correspondance avec André Pieyre de Mandiargues'', Editions du Rocher, 2009

Essays on cinema

* ''Manifeste d'un art nouveau: la Polyvision'', Caractères, 1955. * ''Le Sunlight d'Austerlitz, journal d'un tournage'', Plon, 1960. * ''Napoleon'', British Film Institute Classics, 1994.

Filmography

Co-writer of the film ''Il faut vivre dangereusement'', by Claude Makovski, 1974. Co-writer of Jean Chapot's téléfilms: * ''Livingstone'', 1980 * ''Un fait d'hiver'', 1981 * ''La Tentation d'Antoine'', 1981 * ''Ce fut un bel été'', 1982 * ''Meurtre sans pourboire'', 1983 * ''Le Regard dans le miroir'', 1984 * ''Le Crépuscule des loups'', 1986 * ''Les Mouettes'', 1989 * ''Honorin et la Loreleï'', 1991 * ''Polly West est de retour'', 1993 * ''Honorin et l'enfant prodigue'', 1994. * ''La Petite fille en costume marin'', 1997. Collaborated over 22 years to the ''Magazine Littéraire'' with a column on film adaptations from books.Giukin, Lenuta. Conversations and correspondence with Nelly Kaplan. 2001-2012.

Bibliography

* Antle, Martine. "Dedans et dehors: Le Cas de Nelly Kaplan et d'Abel Gance." ''Mélusine'' 23 (2003): 87-95. * Béhar, Stella. "L'Ecriture surréaliste de Nelly Kaplan." ''La Femme s'entête: La Part du féminin dans le surréalisme''. Paris, France: Lachenal & Ritter, 1998. 275-289. * Calle-Gruber, Mireille. ''Nelly Kaplan : la verbe et la lumière''. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2004. * Colaux, Denis-Louis. ''Grandes machines et spéculations introspectives''. Bruxelles: Labor, 2003. * Colaux, Denis-Louis. ''Nelly Kaplan : portrait d'une flibustière''. Paris: Dreamland, 2002. * Duby, Georges, and Michelle Perrot. ''History of Women in the West Vol. 5 : Toward a Cultural Identity in the Twentieth Century''. Ed. Francois Thebaud. New York: Belknap P, 1994. * Elley, Derek. “Hiding it Under a Bushel”, '' Films and Filming'', 20.4 (1974): 22-5 * Giukin, Lenuta. “Demystification and Webtopia in the Films of Nelly Kaplan.” ''Cinema Journal'' 42.3 (2003): 96-113. * Greene, Linda. "A Very Curious Girl: Politics of a Feminist Fantasy." ''Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media'' 6 (March 1975): 13-14. * Holmlund, Chris. "The Eyes of Nelly Kaplan." ''Screen'' 37.4 (Winter 1996): 351-367. * Houston, Beverly. “Néa”, ''Film Quarterly'', 32.3 (1979): 46-9. * Johnston, Claire. “Women’s cinema as counter cinema”. ''Notes on Women’s Cinema''. London: Society for Education in Film and Television, 1973. 25; reprinted in Bill Nichols ed., ''Movies and Methods: an Anthology''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975. 210. * Kay, Karin. “The Revenge of Pirate Jenny.” ''Velvet Light Trap'' 9 (Summer 1973): 46-9. * Lejeune, Paula. ''Le cinéma des femmes''. Paris: Atlas Lherminier, 1987. * Mandiargues, Andre Pieyre de. “Nelly Kaplan”, ''Obliques'' 14-15 (1973), p. 70. * Rosen, Marjorie. “Women, Sex and Power”, ''Millimeter'', vol. 4 (January 1976): 36-37. * Sebbag, Georges. ''Le point sublime : André Breton, Arthur Rimbaud, Nelly Kaplan''. Paris: Jean-Michel Place, 1997. * Vincendeau, Ginette. "Fathers and Daughters in French Cinema: From the 20s to 'La Belle Noiseuse." ''Women and Film: A Sight and Sound Reader'', edited by Pam Cook and Phillip Dodd, Philadelphia, 1993 * Waldman, Diane. “The Eternal Return of Circe.” ''Velvet Light Trap'', no. 9 (Summer 1973): 49-51. * Wells, Gwendolyn. "Deviant Games." ''L'Esprit Createur'' 31.4 (Winter 1991): 69-77.

References

External links

*
"Nelly Kaplan." International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Vol. 2. Gale, 2000. Biography in Context. Web. 2 January 2014. Gale Document Number: GALE, K1641000711"Nelly Kaplan." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Biography in Context. Web. 2 January 2014. Gale Document Number: GALE, H1000115725"Nelly Kaplan." The Writers Directory. Detroit: St. James Press, 2013. Biography in Context. Web. 2 January 2014. Gale Document Number: GALE, K1649565986
* http://www.filmreference.com/Directors-Jo-Ku/Kaplan-Nelly.html * http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Nelly_Kaplan/194413 * http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cinema_journal/v042/42.3giukin.html * http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:96741 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Nelly 1931 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland 20th-century Argentine women writers 20th-century Argentine writers 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights Argentine emigrants to France Argentine film directors Argentine people of Russian-Jewish descent Argentine surrealist artists Argentine surrealist writers Argentine women essayists Argentine essayists French cinematographers French surrealist artists French surrealist writers Jewish surrealist writers Jewish Argentine writers Surrealist dramatists and playwrights University of Buenos Aires alumni Women surrealist artists Writers from Buenos Aires French cinema articles needing attention to referencing and citation French cinema articles needing attention to supporting materials 20th-century French women writers French film directors French people of Russian-Jewish descent French women essayists 20th-century French writers Argentine dramatists and playwrights Argentine cinematographers