Lucile Hadžihalilović

Lucile Emina Hadžihalilović (born 7 May 1961) is a French film director and screenwriter of Bosnian descent. She wrote and directed the short film '' La Bouche de Jean-Pierre'' (1996), and the feature films '' Innocence'' (2004), for which she became the first woman to win the Stockholm International Film Festival's Bronze Horse Award for Best Film, ''Evolution'' (2015) and ''Earwig'' (2021). Her fourth feature film, '' The Ice Tower'', will be released in 2025.

Early life and education

Hadžihalilović was born in Lyon, France on 7 May 1961, to Bosnian Yugoslav parents and grew up in Morocco until she was 17.

She studied art history and graduated from the prestigious French film school La Fémis (previously Institut des hautes études cinématographiques) in 1987 with the short film ''La Première Mort de Nono''.

Career

1986–1998: Early work

Hadžihalilović worked as an editor for a number of films before beginning her own projects. The first film she worked on was Sylvain Ledey's short ''Festin'' (1986), after which she edited Alain Bourges' 1991 documentary ''Horizons artificiels (Trois rêves d'architecture)'', which has been described as "three confrontations between the discourse on architecture and the architecture of speech." Soon after, she had begun her collaboration with Gaspar Noé and worked on his 1991 short ''Carne''. In 1994, she worked on the short ''La Baigneuse'' by Joel Leberre. Hadžihalilović then both produced and edited Noe's feature-length sequel to ''Carne'', 1998's ''I Stand Alone''.

In the early 1990s, she began to collaborate with her husband, the Argentine filmmaker Gaspar Noé. She produced and edited Noé's short film '' Carne'' (1991) and its sequel, the feature-length '' I Stand Alone'' (1998), and together they formed the production company in 1991. Noé explained their coming together as business partners: "we discovered that we shared a desire to make films atypical and we decided together to create our own society, Les Cinémas de la Zone, in order to finance our projects." Hadžihalilović's first film after her graduation, ''La Bouche de Jean-Pierre'' (1996), was a result of this collaborative effort. Hadžihalilović wrote, edited, produced, and directed the film while Noé worked as the cinematographer. ''La Bouche de Jean-Pierre'' was shown during the Un Certain Regard panel at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as being selected for various other notable festivals throughout the world. Hadžihalilović also contributed to the screenplay of Noé's critically divisive '' Enter the Void'' (2009), and continued as a producer of '' Lux Æterna'' (2019) and ''Vortex'' (2021).

Hadžihalilović's first short feature after her graduating film was ''La Bouche de Jean-Pierre'' (1996). It is told through the eyes of a young girl, Mimi (Sandra Sammartino), whose mother had attempted suicide. Mimi is then relocated to live with her aunt (Denise Aron-Schropfer) and a man named Jean-Pierre (Michel Trillot). The film features child abuse, and ends with Mimi taking sleeping pills in an effort to copy her mother.

In 1998, Hadžihalilović made ''Good Boys Use Condoms'', one of a series of erotic short films promoting condom use. Another in the series, ''Sodomites'', was made by Noé.

2004–2015: ''Innocence'' and acclaim

In 2004, she released the critically acclaimed film '' Innocence'', starring Marion Cotillard and Hélène de Fougerolles. The film was inspired by the 1903 novella '' Mine-Haha, or On the Bodily Education of Young Girls'' by German playwright Frank Wedekind. The film follows three young girls who attend a secluded mysterious boarding school and their interactions with their teachers (Cotillard and Fougerolles). She has commented on the film's similarity or references to Peter Weir's '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), Dario Argento's ''Suspiria'' (1977), and Victor Erice's '' The Spirit of the Beehive'' (1973).

Hadžihalilović released a short entitled ''Nectar'' in 2014, and the feature film ''Evolution'' in 2015. ''Evolution'' revolves around young boys who are subjected to mysterious treatments and live on an island inhabited solely by women and themselves.

2021–present: Established director

In 2021, Hadžihalilović released her first English-language feature, ''Earwig'', about a girl whose teeth are made of ice, which won Special Jury Prize at San Sebastian Film Festival.

In June 2023, it was announced that Hadzihalilovic's next film will be '' The Ice Tower'', starring Marion Cotillard, on their second collaboration after ''Innocence'' (2004). The film is expected to be released in 2025.

Hadžihalilović is a member of the French gender equality group , which aims to promote equality between women and men and diversity in cinema and audiovisual.

Favourite films

In 2022, Hadžihalilović participated in the ''Sight & Sound'' film polls of that year. It is held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, by asking contemporary directors to select ten films of their choice.
Hadžihalilović selections were:

* '' 2001: A Space Odyssey '' (1968)
* ''Stalker'' (1979)
* '' Saikaku Ichidai Onna'' (1952)
* '' The Ascent'' (1977)
* ''Grave of the Fireflies'' (1988)
* '' The Red Shoes'' (1948)
* '' Last Year at Marienbad'' (1961)
* '' Tabu A Story of the South Seas'' (1931)
* '' Mamma Roma'' (1962)
* '' The Spirit of the Beehive'' (1973)

Awards

Filmography

As filmmaker

;Editor

;Producer

Acting roles

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadzihalilovic, Lucile
1961 births
Living people
French-language film directors
French people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent
French screenwriters
French horror film directors
French women film directors
French women screenwriters
Mass media people from Lyon
Institut des hautes études cinématographiques alumni