Claire Simon is a French screenwriter, actress, cinematographer, editor, and director.

Claire Simon 2023

Early life and education

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Simon was born in Britain and raised in southern France. She grew up in a family of writers and painters.[1]

She took courses in anthropology and studied Arabic and Berber.[2]

Career

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Simon first worked in the film world when she did an internship to work as an editor at the Algiers Cinematheque.[2]

In the 1980s, she started to make narrative shorts. She received a scholarship to attend a prestigious documentary workshop led by Jean Rouch, one of the founders of cinéma-vérité.[1]

Distinctions

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Selections

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Three of her films have been selected for the Quinzaine des réalisateurs, an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival: Sinon oui in 1997, Ça brûle in 2006, and Les Bureaux de Dieu in 2008.[3]

The film Gare du Nord and the associated Géographie humaine were selected at the Festival international du film francophone de Namur in October 2013. There Gare du Nord was presented in official competition.[4]

In 2013, a retrospective was dedicated to Simonr at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The feature films Sinon, oui, Les Bureaux de Dieu, Ça brûle and Gare du Nord were shown.[5] Another retrospective of her works was hosted by the 11th Play-Doc festival in Tui, Galicia.[6]

Our Bodies was selected for the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.[7]

Awards

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She was made an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres on January 16, 2014.[8]

Political views

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In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Simon signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[9][10][11]

Filmography

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Director

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Short films

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  • 1976: Madeleine
  • 1980: Tandis que j’agonise
  • 1981: Moi, non ou l'argent de Patricia
  • 1982: Mon cher Simon
  • 1983: Une journée de vacances
  • 1984: Barres Barres
  • 1988: La Police
  • 1991: Scènes de ménage
  • 1992: Artiste Peintre

Feature films

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Documentaries

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Documentary series

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  • 2019: Le Village (20 episodes)

Screenwriter

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  • Sinon, oui, 1997
  • Ça, c'est vraiment toi, (téléfilm) 1999
  • Ça brûle, 2006
  • Les Bureaux de Dieu, 2008

Director of photography

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  • Récréations (MM), 1992
  • 800 km de différence/Romance (DOC), 2000
  • Mimi (DOC), 2002
  • Les Bureaux de Dieu, 2008

Editor

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References

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  1. ^ a b Loayza, Beatrice (August 3, 2023). "A New Subject for a Veteran Documentary Maker: Herself" – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ^ a b "Claire Simon : "Un cinéma libre, curieux du monde entier"". France Culture. September 2, 2021.
  3. ^ "Fiche de Claire Simon sur le site de La Quinzaine des réalisateurs". Archived from the original on 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  4. ^ "FIFF - Gare du Nord". Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  5. ^ "54th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: the Festival of Jim Jarmusch". filmiconjournal.com.
  6. ^ González, David (2015-04-22). "Play-Doc: Documentaries on the borderline". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  7. ^ Rapold, Nicolas. "On the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival". www.artforum.com.
  8. ^ http://www.culture.gouv.fr/Nous-connaitre/Organisation/Conseil-de-l-Ordre-des-Arts-et-des-Lettres/Arretes-de-Nominations-dans-l-ordre-des-Arts-et-des-Lettres/Nomination-dans-l-ordre-des-Arts-et-des-Lettres-janvier-2014
  9. ^ "Gaza : des cinéastes du monde entier demandent un cessez-le-feu immédiat". Libération (in French). 28 December 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  10. ^ Newman, Nick (29 December 2023). "Claire Denis, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Christian Petzold, Apichatpong Weerasethakul & More Sign Demand for Ceasefire in Gaza". The Film Stage. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Directors of cinema sign petition for immediate ceasefire". The Jerusalem Post. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  12. ^ "'The Competition' Review: Vying for a Slot in an Elite Film School (Published 2019)". 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2023-08-16.