ABSTRACT This article analyses how Belgian identity is articulated in contemporary Belgian cinema. Since the introduction of sound, Belgian cinema has been characterised by a divide between Flemish and Belgian francophone cinema. However, the twenty-first century has seen an increase in co-productions between the two communities. By analysing how these intranational co-productions relate to Belgium

ABSTRACT This article analyses how Belgian identity is articulated in contemporary Belgian cinema. Since the introduction of sound, Belgian cinema has been characterised by a divide between Flemish and Belgian francophone cinema. However, the twenty-first century has seen an increase in co-productions between the two communities. By analysing how these intranational co-productions relate to Belgium

ABSTRACT French screenwriters’ precarity has been highlighted in a number of different ways in recent years, not least by their efforts to organise and publicise professional abuses. This article will consider the situation of writers and how these are often framed in relation to a cinematic culture rooted in what Jonathan Buchsbaum calls ‘a certain idea of film [as] the art form of the twentieth century’

ABSTRACT French screenwriters’ precarity has been highlighted in a number of different ways in recent years, not least by their efforts to organise and publicise professional abuses. This article will consider the situation of writers and how these are often framed in relation to a cinematic culture rooted in what Jonathan Buchsbaum calls ‘a certain idea of film [as] the art form of the twentieth century’

ABSTRACT Agnès Varda’s science fiction tale, Les Créatures, is her only film with an extravagant plot, and it is also the film considered (by others and by herself) to be her great failure. This article argues that these two aspects of the film are related. Les Créatures can be read as a condemnation of a certain kind of unrestrained storytelling, in which an artist’s desire for invention displaces

ABSTRACT Agnès Varda’s science fiction tale, Les Créatures, is her only film with an extravagant plot, and it is also the film considered (by others and by herself) to be her great failure. This article argues that these two aspects of the film are related. Les Créatures can be read as a condemnation of a certain kind of unrestrained storytelling, in which an artist’s desire for invention displaces

ABSTRACT This article analyses the Franco-British series The Tunnel (Canal+, 2013–2017), co-produced by Sky Atlantic and StudioCanal, as an iteration of the Swedish-Danish series Bron/Broen/The Bridge (Danmarks Radio, 2011–2018). The author situates Bron within the global television format trade and argues that The Tunnel is best understood as a localised version rather than a remake or an adaptation

ABSTRACT This article analyses the Franco-British series The Tunnel (Canal+, 2013–2017), co-produced by Sky Atlantic and StudioCanal, as an iteration of the Swedish-Danish series Bron/Broen/The Bridge (Danmarks Radio, 2011–2018). The author situates Bron within the global television format trade and argues that The Tunnel is best understood as a localised version rather than a remake or an adaptation

ABSTRACT There is very little academic work on music in television series, and none on music in French television series. This article focuses on one of the most successful French television series, the eight-season-long Engrenages/Spiral (Canal+, 2005–2020). It identifies the similarities and differences between music for films and music for television series before focusing on the music composed

ABSTRACT There is very little academic work on music in television series, and none on music in French television series. This article focuses on one of the most successful French television series, the eight-season-long Engrenages/Spiral (Canal+, 2005–2020). It identifies the similarities and differences between music for films and music for television series before focusing on the music composed

ABSTRACT This article proposes an examination of the white woman’s positionings within the French postcolonial structures of race and gender in two of Claire Denis’s films: Chocolat (1988) and White Material (2009). Using an intersectional frame of reference which combines postcolonial theory, Third World feminism and geography/spatiality, this article demonstrates that these two films unearth structures

ABSTRACT This article proposes an examination of the white woman’s positionings within the French postcolonial structures of race and gender in two of Claire Denis’s films: Chocolat (1988) and White Material (2009). Using an intersectional frame of reference which combines postcolonial theory, Third World feminism and geography/spatiality, this article demonstrates that these two films unearth structures

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 23, No. 2-3, 2023)

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 23, No. 2-3, 2023)

ABSTRACT The author examines the mise en scène of performance in Barbara (Mathieu Amalric, 2017) in the context of the problematic yet pervasive cultural re-inscription of the musical biopic in French cinema, and its remediation of the traditions of chanson française and variété through the body of the female performer. Featuring Jeanne Balibar as ‘Brigitte’, an actress playing the eponymous singer-composer

ABSTRACT The author examines the mise en scène of performance in Barbara (Mathieu Amalric, 2017) in the context of the problematic yet pervasive cultural re-inscription of the musical biopic in French cinema, and its remediation of the traditions of chanson française and variété through the body of the female performer. Featuring Jeanne Balibar as ‘Brigitte’, an actress playing the eponymous singer-composer

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 23, No. 2-3, 2023)

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 23, No. 2-3, 2023)

ABSTRACT The maison close [brothel] in French history and culture, particularly during the nineteenth century because of its representation in art and literature, could be argued to be a lieu de mémoire [site of memory]. In light of the gaps in material that gives direct voice to women in sex work, especially during this period, the maison close could equally be termed a lieu d’oubli [site of forgetting]

ABSTRACT The maison close [brothel] in French history and culture, particularly during the nineteenth century because of its representation in art and literature, could be argued to be a lieu de mémoire [site of memory]. In light of the gaps in material that gives direct voice to women in sex work, especially during this period, the maison close could equally be termed a lieu d’oubli [site of forgetting]

ABSTRACT This article explores the significance of sister–sister relations in Céline Sciamma’s films. It explains how Sciamma is continuing an important feminist film tradition in attending to the complex negotiation from the intimacy of the family home to the realm of the social for girls, and how sisterly relations are conducted between the domestic and the external world. Drawing on work by Eva

ABSTRACT This article explores the significance of sister–sister relations in Céline Sciamma’s films. It explains how Sciamma is continuing an important feminist film tradition in attending to the complex negotiation from the intimacy of the family home to the realm of the social for girls, and how sisterly relations are conducted between the domestic and the external world. Drawing on work by Eva

ABSTRACT Céline Sciamma’s fifth feature film, Petite maman, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in March 2021. Shot in autumn 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a brief film (72 mins) and a return to the work with child actors which typified Sciamma’s first two features, Naissance des pieuvres (2007) and Tomboy (2011). After the death of her grandmother, a child, Nelly (Joséphine Sanz), helps

ABSTRACT Céline Sciamma’s fifth feature film, Petite maman, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in March 2021. Shot in autumn 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a brief film (72 mins) and a return to the work with child actors which typified Sciamma’s first two features, Naissance des pieuvres (2007) and Tomboy (2011). After the death of her grandmother, a child, Nelly (Joséphine Sanz), helps

ABSTRACT In contrast to Sciamma’s Bande de filles/Girlhood (2014), little scholarly attention has been accorded to space in Naissance des pieuvres/Water Lilies (2007). Featuring quiet neighbourhoods in the Parisian suburb of Cergy, Naissance's backdrop is unassuming. However, its association with consumerism, capitalism and the French state is a rich and hitherto underexploited topic for analysis.

ABSTRACT In contrast to Sciamma’s Bande de filles/Girlhood (2014), little scholarly attention has been accorded to space in Naissance des pieuvres/Water Lilies (2007). Featuring quiet neighbourhoods in the Parisian suburb of Cergy, Naissance's backdrop is unassuming. However, its association with consumerism, capitalism and the French state is a rich and hitherto underexploited topic for analysis.

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 23, No. 1, 2023)

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 23, No. 1, 2023)

ABSTRACT Despite the recognition of Walter Benjamin’s influence on Jean-Luc Godard’s cinema, little in-depth comparative work has been conducted on this relationship to date. The article provides a close reading of Godard’s documentary political filmmaking and articulates it with a large spectrum of Benjamin’s texts, from the early writings and unpublished fragments to his latter and best-known work

ABSTRACT Despite the recognition of Walter Benjamin’s influence on Jean-Luc Godard’s cinema, little in-depth comparative work has been conducted on this relationship to date. The article provides a close reading of Godard’s documentary political filmmaking and articulates it with a large spectrum of Benjamin’s texts, from the early writings and unpublished fragments to his latter and best-known work

ABSTRACT Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, Naissance des Pieuvres/Water Lilies (2007), Tomboy (2011), Bande de Filles/Girlhood (2014) and Petite maman (2021) comprise Sciamma’s contribution to youth cinema, depicting children and adolescents coming of age in contemporary France. Sciamma’s work has been much discussed in relation to the body, queer youth, desire and gender fluidity. Less remarked

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 23, No. 1, 2023)

ABSTRACT Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, Naissance des Pieuvres/Water Lilies (2007), Tomboy (2011), Bande de Filles/Girlhood (2014) and Petite maman (2021) comprise Sciamma’s contribution to youth cinema, depicting children and adolescents coming of age in contemporary France. Sciamma’s work has been much discussed in relation to the body, queer youth, desire and gender fluidity. Less remarked

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 23, No. 1, 2023)

ABSTRACT The article focuses on how Céline Sciamma uses screenwriting to underpin her rigorous and uncompromising approach to independent filmmaking. She blends writing and mise en scène in the development stages to repeatedly subvert familiar generic conventions and calls into question what she calls the art of conflict through her distinctive gaze on relationships, femininity, sisterhood, coming

ABSTRACT Céline Sciamma’s uniquely positioned work and public identity present a number of apparent contradictions – especially when considered in the context of French female authorship. After briefly analysing these, this article elaborates its central thesis: that the aporias surrounding Sciamma’s authorship, as manifested primarily in her films and secondarily in parafilmic publications and discourses

ABSTRACT This article explores the public articulations of Céline Sciamma’s authorial persona and the media construction of her image (including her own self-presentation), arguing that her high visibility, combined with her ability to crystallise socially relevant values on and off screen, has broadened her cultural impact from the elite cinephile culture of her films to the larger terrain of stardom

ABSTRACT Across her body of work, Céline Sciamma demonstrates a persistent and progressive interest in reconfiguring cinematic discourses of desire. The few sex scenes in her oeuvre do not function narratively as straightforward evidence of a character’s desire or the truth of the self. Rather, the director tests out how the reorientation of both conventional and novel sex scenes via visual style and

ABSTRACT The article focuses on how Céline Sciamma uses screenwriting to underpin her rigorous and uncompromising approach to independent filmmaking. She blends writing and mise en scène in the development stages to repeatedly subvert familiar generic conventions and calls into question what she calls the art of conflict through her distinctive gaze on relationships, femininity, sisterhood, coming

ABSTRACT As a story of painting – an artist falling in love with the subject of her portrait – Portrait de la jeune fille en feu/Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a film about representation itself, about the intensified spectatorship that comes with a sustained diegetic attention to the gaze. This article argues that rather than fulfilling the mainstream demands of the period romance to reveal lost histories

ABSTRACT Céline Sciamma’s uniquely positioned work and public identity present a number of apparent contradictions – especially when considered in the context of French female authorship. After briefly analysing these, this article elaborates its central thesis: that the aporias surrounding Sciamma’s authorship, as manifested primarily in her films and secondarily in parafilmic publications and discourses

ABSTRACT This article explores the public articulations of Céline Sciamma’s authorial persona and the media construction of her image (including her own self-presentation), arguing that her high visibility, combined with her ability to crystallise socially relevant values on and off screen, has broadened her cultural impact from the elite cinephile culture of her films to the larger terrain of stardom

ABSTRACT Across her body of work, Céline Sciamma demonstrates a persistent and progressive interest in reconfiguring cinematic discourses of desire. The few sex scenes in her oeuvre do not function narratively as straightforward evidence of a character’s desire or the truth of the self. Rather, the director tests out how the reorientation of both conventional and novel sex scenes via visual style and

ABSTRACT As a story of painting – an artist falling in love with the subject of her portrait – Portrait de la jeune fille en feu/Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a film about representation itself, about the intensified spectatorship that comes with a sustained diegetic attention to the gaze. This article argues that rather than fulfilling the mainstream demands of the period romance to reveal lost histories

Published in French Screen Studies (Ahead of Print, 2022)

Published in French Screen Studies (Ahead of Print, 2022)

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 22, No. 4, 2022)

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 22, No. 4, 2022)

ABSTRACT Joan of Arc has inspired many works of art. The iconographical discourse of this artistic tradition is twofold: she is portrayed either as the homeland’s saviour or as a religious virgin. The cinematic adaptations by Carl Th. Dreyer and Robert Bresson – respectively La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (Dreyer, 1928) and Procès de Jeanne d’Arc (Bresson, 1962) – demonstrate, however, that the latter

ABSTRACT This article aims to examine Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy’s Ballet mécanique (1924), focusing on its response to technological modernity. Firstly, it assesses the film’s ‘Purist’ leanings, and especially the notion that it provides moments of reprieve from the perceptual shock that typifies modern urban life. Following this, it provides a close examination of the relationship between the

ABSTRACT Joan of Arc has inspired many works of art. The iconographical discourse of this artistic tradition is twofold: she is portrayed either as the homeland’s saviour or as a religious virgin. The cinematic adaptations by Carl Th. Dreyer and Robert Bresson – respectively La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (Dreyer, 1928) and Procès de Jeanne d’Arc (Bresson, 1962) – demonstrate, however, that the latter

ABSTRACT This article aims to examine Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy’s Ballet mécanique (1924), focusing on its response to technological modernity. Firstly, it assesses the film’s ‘Purist’ leanings, and especially the notion that it provides moments of reprieve from the perceptual shock that typifies modern urban life. Following this, it provides a close examination of the relationship between the

ABSTRACT Osmosis (Netflix, 2019) is only the second French television series to be commissioned by Netflix. Set in a near-future Paris and dramatising the final beta-testing and launch of a revolutionary dating application, the programme has frequently been compared to Black Mirror (Channel 4 Television Corporation/Netflix, 2011–19). This article argues that the parallel is unhelpful since Osmosis

ABSTRACT Osmosis (Netflix, 2019) is only the second French television series to be commissioned by Netflix. Set in a near-future Paris and dramatising the final beta-testing and launch of a revolutionary dating application, the programme has frequently been compared to Black Mirror (Channel 4 Television Corporation/Netflix, 2011–19). This article argues that the parallel is unhelpful since Osmosis

ABSTRACT Scholars of French cinema have paid little attention to early non-fiction films, particularly those shot in colonised spaces. Yet cameramen sponsored by major French cinema companies appeared in North Africa in the last years of the nineteenth century and south of the Sahara as early as 1906, eager to record images of newly conquered lands. This essay examines the first French films shot in

ABSTRACT Scholars of French cinema have paid little attention to early non-fiction films, particularly those shot in colonised spaces. Yet cameramen sponsored by major French cinema companies appeared in North Africa in the last years of the nineteenth century and south of the Sahara as early as 1906, eager to record images of newly conquered lands. This essay examines the first French films shot in

Published in French Screen Studies (Vol. 22, No. 2-3, 2022)

ABSTRACT This article analyses Michèle Morgan’s rapid rise to stardom between 1937 and 1939 through the prism of her media coverage and her reception in popular magazines and their readers’ letters. From a perspective combining cultural history with star and gender studies, the article is based on an analysis of three specialised film magazines (Cinémonde, Ciné-Miroir, Pour Vous) while exploring the

RÉSUMÉ Michèle Morgan, après un exil de six ans à Hollywood pendant la guerre, retrouve la faveur du public français en 1946 avec le film de Jean Delannoy, La Symphonie pastorale et devient la star féminine n°1 en France pendant une décennie. En tête au box-office et couverte de récompenses, en couple à la ville avec Henri Vidal et associée à l’écran aux stars masculines les plus populaires, Jean Marais

ABSTRACT Both on and off screen, the Michèle Morgan–Henri Vidal star couple was a pair of opposites. Morgan personified an ethereal femininity on screen, but she chose as her partner the most athletic and virile actor in France, and they became one of the most glamorous French couples of the time. The quintessence of ‘quality’ cinema, Morgan accumulated successes, while Vidal was often consigned to