IEC
Born: 28 May 1951, Dun-sur-Auron, Cher, France.
Education: IDHEC, Paris, France [graduated in 1980].
Career: Originally studied journalism, but switched to film after several years, graduating from the IDHEC in 1980. Started as c.asst. Her first project as a cinematographer was Wim Wenders' 'Chambre 666', made for television. There she met Claire Denis, who was working as Wenders' assistant director.
Appeared in the doc 'Women Behind the Camera' [2001-2006, Alexis Krasilovsky].
An exhibition of her photos, 'My Favorite Dance', opened in Paris in October 2014 [+ book published by Editions du Seuil].
Awards: Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1994] for 'J'ai pas sommeil'; Torino IFF 'Equal Rights Award' [1994] for 'Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge...'; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1997] for 'Nénette et Boni'; 'César' Award nom [1999] for 'La vie rêvée des anges'; 'César' Award [2001], BSFC Award 'Runner-up' [2000], European Film Award nom [2000] & NSFC Award [2001] for 'Beau travail'; Chlotrudis Award [2004] for 'Vendredi soir'; 'César' Award nom [2004] for 'Les égarés'; Premi 'David di Donatello' nom [2007] for 'Nuovomondo'; Premio ADF [2008] & 'César' Award nom [2008] for 'Home'; Prix spécial de la Commission Supérieure Technique de l'Image et du Son [CST] [2009] for her oeuvre; Chlotrudis Award nom [2010] for '35 rhums'; Marburger Kamerapreis [2012].
'L'enfant d'en haut/Sister' [2011]: Ms. Agnès Godard's work on Ursula Meier's 'L'enfant d'en haut/Sister' was a turning point in her long career: the first time she used a digital camera.
'It was quite an experience,' Ms. Godard said on a recent afternoon in her airy loft - a converted boiler-works factory - in the 11th Arrondissement here [Paris]. Pale, lithe and silver-haired, she spoke in a thoughtful, hushed, Gauloise-induced rasp. 'It's really a very big change to move from film to digital. The images don't have the same texture, the poetic charge is different, so you have to reinvent the images.'
In the film, Simon (Kacey Mottet Klein) lives with his older sister (Léa Seydoux) in a housing complex at the foot of a luxury ski resort in the Swiss Alps. At 12, the boy is the family's scrappy breadwinner, hitching a ride on a chairlift each day to pilfer ski equipment from the tourists before reselling it in the valley below, while his self-absorbed sister drifts in and out of view.
It's a worrying setup, but the film is more inspired by fables and Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales than gritty social realism, and Ms. Godard was determined to give it a look that would subtly reinforce that idea.
'Digital demands a very technical approach to the image,' she said, 'whereas before with film, even if there was a technical base, you could slide more easily toward a more intuitive approach. With digital, the camera sees more than us, and that's a gap to fill that's very technical and very strange and difficult to master.'
Ms. Godard said she relied on maneuvers like adding blue light to the Christmas tree in Simon's apartment to subtly heighten the visual atmosphere of the film. 'The idea of adding color was to try and make something different out of this new medium,' she said, 'not to try to recreate what we had with film, because that's a lost cause. Digital images have such precision that they are practically implacable. And what is implacable is violent, so I think it's almost opposed to the possibility of creating fiction.' [From article by Kristin Hohenadel in The New York Times, September 28, 2012.]
FILMS | |
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1983 |
Chronique du Palais de la Méditerranée [Thierry Thomas] 16mm/c; short/25m |
1985 |
La petite danseuse de 14 ans d'Edgar Degas/La danseuse de 14 ans [Henri Alekan] 16mm/c; dance film/6m; cph: François Ede; ep of series 'Le musée dansé'; prod for Musée d'Orsay |
1986 |
Charlotte chocolat [Valérie Malek & Béatrice Sebbah] 16mm/c; short/10m |
1986 |
Fantoches! [Pierre Barletta] c; short/13m; cph: Luc Pagès |
1987 |
Dernière fugue [Miguel Vassy] 16mm/c; short/12m; cph: Solange Martin |
1988 |
Tumulte [Anne Dreyfus & Camille Guichard] 16mm/c; dance film/8m; cph: Dominique Gentil |
1988 |
Un geste simple [Alain Peyrollaz] c; short/9m |
1989 |
Les chants de l'ombre [Clara Ott] b&w; short/19m |
1990 |
Jacquot [de Nantes] [Agnès Varda] b&w-c; doc + dram seq/118m; cph: Patrick Blossier & Georges Strouvé |
1991 |
Keep It for Yourself [Claire Denis] b&w; short/40m |
1992 |
L'absence/Die Abwesenheit [Peter Handke] c |
1992 |
Dimanche soir [Solange Martin] c; short/6m |
1992 |
La robe à cerceau/The Hoop Skirt [Claire Denis] b&w; short/24m |
1993 |
La vis/The Screw [Didier Flamand] b&w; short/19m |
1993 |
Sida, paroles de l'un à l'autre [Paule Muxel & Bertrand de Solliers] c; doc/67m |
1993 |
J'ai pas sommeil/I Can't Sleep [Claire Denis] c |
1993 |
[Sida -] Une histoire qui n'a pas de fin/Aids, a Story That Knows No End [Paule Muxel & Bertrand de Solliers] c; doc/95m |
1993 |
Canova mutilé [Jacques Deschamps] 16mm/c; doc/35m |
1994 |
Le géographe Manuel [Michel Sumpf] b&w/silent (1st part) & c/sound (2nd part); cph: Denis Lenoir, William Lubtchansky, Pascal Marti, Jacques Loiseleux, Dominique Chapuis, Renato Berta, Raoul Coutard, Romain Winding, a.o. |
1994 |
À propos de Nice, la suite [seg 'Nice, Very Nice' dir by Claire Denis] c; 7 seg; other ph: Laurent Dailland, Nathalie Crédou, a.o. |
1995 |
Sida, paroles de familles [Paule Muxel & Bertrand de Solliers] c; doc/93m |
1995 |
Nénette et Boni [Claire Denis] s16-35bu/c |
1997 |
La vie rêvée des anges/The [Daydreams] [Dreamlife] of Angels [Erick Zonca] s16-35bu/c |
1997 |
L'arrière-pays [Jacques Nolot] c |
1998 |
La nouvelle ève/The New Eve [Catherine Orsini] c |
1998 |
Il suffirait d'un pont [Solveig Dommartin] c; short/20m; cph: Gérard Mercier |
1998 |
La vie ne me fait pas peur/Life Doesn't Scare Me [Noémie Lvovsky] c; cph: Bertrand Chatry |
1998 |
Beau travail/Good Work [Claire Denis] c |
1999 |
Le secret [Virginie Wagon] c; cph: Jean-Marc Fabre; 2uc: Pierre Milon |
2000 |
Trouble Every Day [Claire Denis] c |
2000 |
La répétition/Replay [Catherine Corsini] c |
2001 |
Au plus près du paradis/Nearest to Heaven [Tonie Marshall] p/c |
2001 |
Ten Minutes Older: The Cello [seg 'Vers Nancy' dir by Claire Denis] b&w-c; 8 seg + links; other ph: Lajos Koltai, Fabio Cianchetti, Andreas Höfer, Pascal Rabaud, a.o. |
2001 |
Vendredi soir/Friday Night [Claire Denis] 35mm+s16-to-35mm/c |
2002 |
Les égarés/Strayed [André Téchiné] c |
2003 |
Wild Side [Sébastien Lifshitz] c |
2004 |
L'intrus/The Intruder [Claire Denis] s35/c |
2004 |
Vers Mathilde [Claire Denis] c; doc/84m; cph: Hélène Louvart |
2004 |
Backstage [Emmanuelle Bercot] c |
2005 |
Nuovomondo/The Golden Door [Emanuele Crialese] s35/c; ph Rome: Gergely Pohárnok |
2006 |
Ensemble, c'est tout/Hunting and Gathering [Claude Berri] c |
2006 |
Lady Godiva [Vicky Jewson] scope/c; French unit ph; ph: George Stephenson |
2007 |
Home [Ursula Meier] s35-to-35mm/c |
2007 |
35 rhums/35 Shots of Rum [Claire Denis] s35-to-35mm/c |
2008 |
Partir/Leaving [Catherine Corsini] c |
2009 |
Trésor [Claude Berri & François Dupeyron (replaced C. Berri, who died in January)] c |
2009 |
Simon Werner a disparu.../Lights Out/Love Like Blood [Fabrice Gobert] s35-to-35mm/c |
2010 |
Où va la nuit/The Long Falling [Martin Provost] c |
2011 |
L'enfant d'en haut/Sister [Ursula Meier] HD (ARRI ALEXA)-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; see above |
2011 |
Tu honoreras ta mère et ta mère/A Greek Type of Problem [Brigitte Roüan] HD (ARRI ALEXA)/c |
2012 |
Los insólitos peces gato/Les drôles de poissons-chats/The Amazing Catfish [Claudia Sainte-Luce] RED Epic/c |
2012 |
L'armée du salut/Salvation Army [Abdellah Taïa] HD (ARRI ALEXA)/c; filmed July & November |
2012 |
Les salauds/Bastards [Claire Denis] RED Epic-to-D-Cinema/c |
2013 |
La ritournelle/Folies Bergère/Paris Follies [Marc Fitoussi] RED Epic/c; 2uc: Pierre-Hugues Galien; filmed February/March & September |
2013 |
Les ponts de Sarajevo/Bridges of Sarajevo/I ponti di Sarajevo [seg (RED Epic) 'Silence Mujo/Quiet Mujo' dir by Ursula Meier] HD-to-digital/b&w-c; 13 seg |
2013 |
The Falling [Carol Morley] c |
2014 |
Voilà l'enchaînement [Claire Denis] HD/c; short/30m |
2014 |
Kacey Mottet Klein, Naissance d'un acteur [Ursula Meier] c; doc/14m; addph: U. Meier & Jeanne Rektorik |
2015 |
When the Day Had No Name [Teona Strugar Mitevska] HD (Sony F55)/c |
TELEVISION | |
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1982 |
Chambre 666/Room 666 [Wim Wenders] doc/45m/16mm; filmed at the Cannes IFF |
1990 |
Jacques Rivette, le veilleur [Claire Denis & Serge Daney] doc/b&w-c/v/124m; ep series 'Cinéma de notre temps' |
1992 |
Histoires autour de la folie [Paule Muxel & Bertrand de Solliers] 2-part doc/208m |
1994 |
US Go Home [Claire Denis] tvm/68m/s16; ep #2 of 9-part series 'Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge' |
1995 |
Fare un film per me è vivere/Making a Film for Me Is Living/To Make a Film Is to Be Alive [Enrica Antonioni] doc/b&w-c/52m/v |
1995 |
Duo [Claire Denis] tvm/5m; ep 7-part series 'Picture House' |
1995 |
Jeunesse sans Dieu [Catherine Corsini] tvm |
1997 |
Les années lycée: Petites [Noémie Lvovsky] tvm; cph: Bertrand Chatry |
FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT/OPERATOR | |
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1981 |
Der Stand der Dinge/The State of Things [Wim Wenders] c.asst Portugal; ph: Henri Alekan, Fred Murphy & Martin Schäfer |
1982 |
La truite/The Trout [Joseph Losey] 2nd asst op; ph: Henri Alekan |
1983 |
Paris, Texas [Wim Wenders] co-c.asst; ph: Robby Müller |
1983 |
Wundkanal. Hinrichtung für vier Stimmen/Exécution à quatre voix/Doktor S. [Thomas Harlan] ?; ph: Henri Alekan |
1984 |
L'amour à mort/Love Unto Death [Alain Resnais] co-c.asst; ph: Sacha Vierny |
1985 |
[Zoo:] A Zed & Two Noughts [Peter Greenaway] co-c.asst; ph: Sacha Vierny |
1985 |
The Perfect Kiss [Jonathan Demme; mus short] co-c.asst; ph: Henri Alekan |
1986 |
Der Himmel über Berlin/Les ailes du désir/Wings of Desire [Wim Wenders] c.op; ph: Henri Alekan |
1987 |
The Belly of an Architect [Peter Greenaway] c.op; ph: Sacha Vierny |
1987 |
Chocolat [Claire Denis] c.op; ph: Robert Alazraki |
1989 |
Après la guerre [Jean-Loup Hubert] c.asst; ph: Claude Lecomte |
1990 |
Daddy Nostalgie/These Foolish Things [Bertrand Tavernier] c.op; ph: Denis Lenoir |
1990 |
S'en fout la mort/No Fear, No Die [Claire Denis] c.op; ph: Pascal Marti |
1991 |
Prague [Ian Sellar] c.op; ph: Darius Khondji |
1994 |
Al di là delle nuvole/Beyond the Clouds/Jenseits der Wolken [Michelangelo Antonioni & (prologue/interludes/epilogue) Wim Wenders] co-c.op 2u; ph: Alfio Contini (with M. Antonioni) & Robby Müller (with W. Wenders) |
FILMS AS DIRECTOR | |
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1982 |
La lumière sous la porte [short/12m; + scrpl] ph: Patrick Blossier |